UPDATE: Telltale’s The Expanse is coming to Steam on November 20th, 2023.
ORIGINAL STORY: Long after enamoring fans of The Walking Dead with an interactive narrative adventure set in Robert Kirkman’s post-apocalyptic world, Telltale Games has been on the hunt for a new IP fitting for its story-telling chops. Through series like Game of Thrones and Guardians of the Galaxy, Telltale told original tales in established universes. With The Expanse: A Telltale Series, the developer is tackling Amazon’s six-season science-fiction series, but is a release on Steam likely?
Well, this isn’t quite the same team that worked on any of Telltale’s previous entries, considering the original developer was dissolved. But still, what we’ve seen of The Expanse shows promise of a dramatic, plot-driven experience following series lead Camina Drummer (who Cara Gee returns to voice) and her fellow scavengers on the hunt for treasures tucked deep into the reaches of space.
Fans of The Expanse or Telltale Games have several ways to enjoy Drummer’s latest peril. But is Steam among one of those platforms?
Telltale’s The Expanse on Steam
While The Expanse is seeing a wide release across all current and previous-gen consoles (save for the Nintendo Switch), it’s only landing on one online storefront for PC players. And unfortunately for Steam devotees, Telltale Games struck an exclusivity deal with Epic Games Store.
When The Expanse releases on July 27, 2023, its first episode will only be available on Epic Games Store. The episodic adventure will then expand across four additional episodes, scheduled to launch every two weeks after.
Could The Expanse make its way to Steam? It’s likely, as the game isn’t published by Epic Games and is therefore almost certainly just a timed exclusive. Most timed exclusives make their way to Steam a year or so after they launch on EGS, so look to July 2024 as a rough indication of when you could be seeing it on another PC platform.
About Telltale’s The Expanse
Not too much is known about the game’s story, except that Drummer returns. While the series left a big ‘ole open hole for someone to expand upon the story, Telltale opted to go for a prequel following Drummer, who didn’t join the main cast until Season 4. We’ll avoid going into spoiler territory too much, but being a prequel, The Expanse: A Telltale Game does open the door for long-lost characters to return.
In Amazon’s TV series, which was snagged from SyFy when the show was canceled after Season 3, the Solar System has been colonized and, surprise surprise, in the midst of a cold war. A band of unwitting protagonists stumbles upon a conspiracy theory that threatens the already brittle stability of the war. Since Telltale’s game will feature Drummer, it’s clear the game won’t go too far into the past, and will likely set up her arrival in Season 2.
Much like with Game of Thrones, Telltale had additional source material to pull from since The Expanse is based on James S. A. Corey’s series of novels. Whether or not any inspiration came from them is yet to be seen.
Telltale is developing The Expanse alongside Deck Nine, the studio behind Before the Storm and True Colors in the Life is Strange series and the Life is Strange Remastered Collection. This marks the second title released after LCG Entertainment’s acquisition of Telltale Games, the first being Batman: Shadows Edition, a rerelease of Batman: A Telltale Series and The Enemy Within.
The Expanse: A Telltale Series’ first episode launches on July 27, 2023 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X & S.
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