How to transfer a Metro Exodus save game to another gaming PC
By moving to the Epic store from Steam, the PC version of the new Metro game loses cloud saves.
- Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
Anyone playing the new Metro Exodus game on PC, as it's clearly meant to be played, has run into a few roadblocks along the way. Not only are monsters and mercenaries trying to stop your escape from Moscow, but the forces of PC game retailing are trying to stop you from sneaking in a little playtime at work.
That's because PC players were hit with a surprising last-minute switch, when publisher Deep Silver pulled the PC version from Steam, where it had been available to preorder for months, and declared the little-used Epic game store as its exclusive vendor to sell the PC version of the game.
This map won't help you find your saved games.
Why is that a problem? The Epic platform lacks most of Steam's social features, and worse, it does not support cloud saves, so you can't simply log in on another gaming laptop or desktop, download the game and pick up where you left off.
So, what should someone do if they're playing Metro Exodus on one laptop at home and also want to (obviously for completely professional reasons like testing new gaming PCs and graphics cards) play at work without starting over?
You'll have to go back to the old-fashioned method of finding a saved-game file and loading it on a USB stick. We used to call it Sneakernet. Different games hide their saves in different places on your computer, so here's what to do for Metro Exodus:
1. Open the Windows file browser and point it towards this folder: C:/users/[your account]/Saved Games
Start by finding this folder.
2. Select the Metro Exodus folder found there (it's just the save files, the game itself is stored elsewhere).
3. Copy/paste or drag the Metro Exodus folder onto a USB memory stick (or zip and upload to a cloud service like Google Drive). My folder was only around 25MB.
You saves are hiding here.
4. On the second PC, install the Epic store app, sign in as usual and download the game again. Insert your USB key or download and unzip the Saved Game folder from the original system.
5. Once the game is installed, go to this computer's version of the Saved Games folder (same place as on the first PC). Copy and paste, or drag the new Metro Exodus folder to the same location. If asked, allow Windows to update or overwrite any files there.
Make sure you're copying the new files onto the old ones, and not the other way around.
6. Return to the Epic app, launch the game, and pick up from your last save.
Yes, this is way too much trouble, and you're almost certain to mix up your save versions at some point. But until Epic adds cloud saving, like EA's Origin, Steam, Ubisoft's Uplay or GOG, that's how you can keep your saves up to date.