Previously planned as an Epic Games Store-exclusive release, Lords of the Fallen 2 developer CI Games has decided to terminate its exclusivity deal with Epic ahead of its 2026 launch. It is still unclear when Lords of the Fallen 2 will release, but news surrounding the title has been ramping up and could likely have trailer at Summer Games Fest this year.
Lords of the Fallen 2 is the third entry in the Lords of the Fallen series, and the follow-up to the 2023 franchise reboot, which launched to mixed reviews but has since become a bit of a cult hit thanks to numerous updates over the years. Despite a mixed showing at launch, interest in the series remained high due to its unique soulslike premise of transporting players between two worlds. In fact, interest in the series remained high enough that Epic Games offered CI Games a deal in 2024 to publish Lords of the Fallen 2 exclusively on the Epic Games Store on PC for the product’s entire life cycle, which the company accepted. Epic Games is, of course, no stranger to offering deals to game developers and publishers for PC storefront exclusivity rights for their upcoming games, much to the displeasure of some PC gamers who find storefront exclusivity to be outside the spirit of what it means to game on a PC.
Lords of the Fallen 2 Can Come to Steam Following Release from Epic Games Store Exclusivity
Now, as Lords of the Fallen 2 appears to be inching towards its proposed 2026 launch, CI Games has announced that it has terminated its exclusivity deal with Epic Games, and the upcoming soulslike is free to be on any storefront it wishes to be on. The official Separation Agreement was posted on May 18, 2026, and can be found on the CI Games website, in which readers will find that the separation occurred on April 14, 2026, and is only going public now because immediate disclosure could have “prejudiced the Company’s legitimate interests.” Readers will also find that this Separation Agreement is “conditional in nature,” and will not impact any use of Unreal Engine 5 or any Epic Online Services and infrastructure currently built into the upcoming Lords of the Fallen 2.
Neither CI Games nor Epic Games has disclosed any rationale for why Lords of the Fallen 2 is now free from Epic exclusivity, but some online speculation suggests it may be because storefront exclusivity could hurt the game more than help it. Some developers have reported that Epic Games Store exclusivity hurt game sales due to strong fan allegiance to Steam, only to see massive sales boosts when timed exclusivity ended and the games appeared on other platforms. In fact, games like Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Kingdom Hearts have treated their arrival on Steam following their Epic exclusivity as an entirely separate launch, complete with new trailers to announce that the game is now on Valve’s storefront. Alan Wake 2 remains one of the few AAA games that have remained an Epic Games Store exclusive for the entirety of its life.
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