Last week, after it was confirmed that Borderlands 3 will be a timed Epic Games Store exclusive on PC, some fans weren't happy. To protest the exclusivity deal, some Borderlands fans began to review bomb the other Borderlands games on Steam, leaving negative reviews to let their frustrations be known.

While those posting the negative reviews hope that the pressure will be enough for 2K Games to reverse its exclusivity deal, some are wondering whether it could have the adverse effect. On Twitter, games journalist Imran Khan asked if Steam users realized that review bombing the Borderlands series on "ideological grounds" would make the Epic Games Store a more appealing prospect for developers.

As of the time of writing, the Epic Games Store does not offer a user review feature, meaning that prospective buyers have to look elsewhere for an opinion on the game. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has confirmed that the team is looking to add reviews to the Epic Games Store, but these reviews will be optional. Developers fearing that they will get review bombed over exclusivity deals or the content in their game may be more likely to only release their games on the Epic Games Store.

Some also pointed out that the Steam algorithm pushes down games that have negative reviews, making it less likely for those games to show up in the Discovery Queue. Steam has thousands of games while the Epic Games Store has yet to reach its first hundred, so avoiding review bombing and increased discoverability could push developers towards the Epic Games Store.

Borderlands 3 isn't the only game to criticized over Epic Games Store exclusivity. Ubisoft's open world shooter The Division 2, survival action game Metro: Exodus, and Obsidian Entertainment's sci-fi RPG The Outer Worlds were slammed for being Epic Games Store exclusives.

These games are unlikely to be the last games that Epic Games signs to an exclusivity deal. Responding to criticism of The Outer Worlds and Metro: Exodus exclusivity deals, Sweeny confirmed that Epic Games is going to keep on pushing for more deals like this, despite the backlash. However, with some developers looking at the review bombing of these games, Epic Games may not have to push very hard to add to the exclusives list.