Blizzard PC Games Are Coming To Steam, With Overwatch 2 First On Deck
With Microsoft's landmark acquisition of Activision Blizzard finally approved, the gears have begun turning to more fully accommodate Activision Blizzard games on Microsoft platforms. For instance, while Blizzard games have made their home on PC for a long time, they've been exclusive to Blizzard's personal game launcher platform — Battle.net. This will be changing in the very near future.
In an announcement posted today on Blizzard's official news blog, the company revealed that it will soon begin porting its various PC games over to the most prominent PC gaming platform, Steam. The first of these games will be "Overwatch 2," which will be available on Steam starting on August 10.
While a Battle.net account will still be required to log into the game, Steam players will not need to download the Battle.net client in order to play. The Steam version will also be fully cross-platform at launch thanks to its Battle.net integration, and will feature built-in achievement and friend list support.
New stage, same games
As Blizzard explains in its announcement, the face of PC gaming has changed tremendously since the initial launch of the Battle.net platform back in 1996. Porting to Steam will help the company broaden its audience to those who may not have been comfortable with installing Battle.net previously. With Microsoft and Valve's help, the process will hopefully be a smooth one.
"It's our goal at Blizzard to listen to players and try to exceed their expectations in everything we do," Blizzard Entertainment President Mike Ybarra said in the announcement. "While Battle.net remains a priority for us now and into the future, we've heard players want the choice of Steam for a selection of our games ... We're happy to work with Valve to make that happen."
"Gamers and developers are both going to benefit from 'Overwatch 2' coming to Steam," added Valve President Gabe Newell. "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.'"
The Steam page for "Overwatch 2" is already live for players to track and add to their wishlist. At the time of writing, Blizzard has not said which games will come to Steam next or when, though it is probably a safe bet that big titles like "Diablo IV" are coming eventually.