Blizzard’s games are breaking free from the Battle.net launcher as some of them are making their way over to Steam. The first game to make the jump is Overwatch 2, which will debut on Valve’s storefront on August 10.
That’s the same day Overwatch 2’s big Invasion season gets underway, bringing PvE missions, Flashpoint (a new map type for competitive play), a new hero and much more to the game.
“We want to give everyone a chance to experience our universes with old friends while making new ones, no matter how they choose to play,” Blizzard said. “As a free-to-play, team-based game, we believe Overwatch 2 is the perfect title for Blizzard’s debut on the platform.”
“Gamers and developers are both going to benefit from Overwatch 2 coming to Steam,” Valve president Gabe Newell said in a statement. “Gamers will have another platform where they can play a beloved game that utilizes the capabilities of Steam, and developers will benefit from the effects of having the talented team at Blizzard helping us evolve our supported features and functionality for Overwatch 2.”
To be clear, Overwatch 2 isn’t leaving Battle.net, so you won’t need to uninstall the game from there and redownload it through Steam. As on all other platforms, Steam players will still need to have a Battle.net account to play Overwatch 2. That enables cross-platform play and cross-progression.
There are some advantages to playing Overwatch 2 on Steam instead of Battle.net. The game will support Steam achievements and you’ll be able to invite your Steam friends to join you. It’s available to wishlist on Steam now.
It’s not yet clear whether Overwatch 2 will have native Steam Deck support. I’ve asked for clarification on that. I was already dreading the game hitting Xbox Cloud Gaming if and when the Microsoft deal goes through, since being able to play Overwatch 2 pretty much anywhere I can find decent WiFi or cell reception would probably ruin me. Having it on Steam Deck seems like a good middle ground.
This is a smart way for Blizzard to reach more players and bring newcomers into the Overwatch 2 fold. I’m sure many folks will appreciate being able to launch more of their games natively from the same launcher and not have to bother with Battle.net at all. “We’re excited to see the response from the Overwatch community — both veteran players and new ones who come on board through Steam — and we’re looking forward to hearing their feedback,” Blizzard said.
It’s unclear when other Blizzard titles are coming to Steam or which ones will make the leap. The publisher says it will reveal more details “when the time is right.” Diablo IV in particular seems like a safe bet given how successful that game has been.
Of course, all of this is happening amid Microsoft’s ongoing attempt to buy Activision Blizzard. The blockbuster deal could close any day now. Microsoft has been critical of Activision’s decision to silo Call of Duty games on Battle.net in the past. In court filings, Microsoft called that effort to boost Battle.net a “resounding failure.”
So it was already likely that Blizzard games would start appearing on other PC storefronts outside of Battle.net (outside of some older ones, which are available through GOG). Microsoft’s first-party PC games are all on Steam, as far as I’m aware. If and when the deal goes through, we’ll surely see Activision Blizzard games come to the Xbox PC app as well so they can be on Game Pass. Still, it’s a big shift for Blizzard to start putting its games on Steam.
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