A post on Russian forum GAMEINATOR seems to indicate as much, at the very least. Said post is made by a username ‘scynet” bearing the 4A Games logo. The post itself is in Russian, so some of the context may be lost in translation. but the key takeaway as the title of this article describes.

Some other strong accusations are thrown in as well. For one, the poster says that the backlash comes from people who don’t plan to buy metro Exodus anyway, and that they’re just looking for an excuse to be toxic on the internet. It goes on to say that if some gamers don’t care about Metro Exodus enough to install a launcher, then the developers don’t care for what they have to say about the game either. Of course, this is just one individual developer speaking his mind. Deep Silver, the publisher, was quick to issue a statement via Twitter, pointing that out. It goes on to say that any complaints of this business decision should be made to Deep Silver, and not 4A Games.

— Metro Exodus (@MetroVideoGame) February 3, 2019 What was once a battle between two digital game stores on PC has spiraled out of control into one between a developer and its customers. Metro Exodus launches on the Epic Games Store on 15 February, so we’ll have to wait until then to see what else unfolds. (Source: GAMEINATOR via TweakTown, Deep Silver / Twitter)

Metro Exodus Developer  If Game Flops On PC  Sequel Will Not Be Available On The Platform - 47