[Saka]

Last night there was a large announcement from Blizzard, as well as a tweet from Mike Ybarra, Blizzard Entertainment President, confirming demand for availability of Activision Blizzard games on the Steam platform. Overwatch 2 is going to be available soon, from 10th of August, and there are hints that other games may follow.



Announcement from Blizzard on battle.net website:
As Blizzard evolves as a studio, inside and out, one of the ideas pushing us forward is meeting players around the world where they are and making our games as easy as possible to access and play. 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.

Battle.net is the home of all our PC players, and over the years, we’ve evolved our platform to support updated technologies, capabilities, and our communities’ expectations. But as we’ve evolved, the industry has evolved too–gaming is no longer just for specific communities as it was when Battle.net launched over two decades ago, gaming is for everyone–and though we remain committed to continually investing in and supporting Battle.net, we want to break down the barriers to make it easier for players everywhere to find and enjoy our games.

Which is why we’re trying something new.

We’re excited to announce that we are bringing a selection of our games to Steam, starting with Overwatch 2… which will be available on the platform on August 10!

“It’s our goal at Blizzard to listen to players and try to exceed their expectations in everything we do,” said Mike Ybarra, President of Blizzard Entertainment. “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, starting with Overwatch 2 on August 10th. 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," said Gabe Newell, Valve's president. "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."

As a free-to-play, team-based game, we believe Overwatch 2 is the perfect title for Blizzard’s debut on the platform. Overwatch 2: Invasion is launching with more new types of gameplay experiences than at any point in the game’s storied 7-year history, including the first-ever set of PvE Story Missions, a new core PvP game mode with two new maps, and of course, a new hero. It’s a great opportunity for new players to enjoy their first experience of the Overwatch universe.

Overwatch 2’s presence on Steam is in addition to Battle.net, so the incredible community already accessing the game through Battle.net can play as they have with no changes required. Players on Steam will still need to connect Overwatch 2 to a Battle.net account, as we require for all platforms, which enables cross-platform play and more. Players using Steam will have access to features of the platform while playing Overwatch 2, such as Steam achievements, their Steam friends list, and the ability to invite them to play in-game. 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.

As far as what’s next for Blizzard on Steam, we’ll be sharing more about potential other games coming to the platform when the time is right.

The Overwatch 2 Steam page is live now, and is available to wishlist! We invite the Overwatch community to give their new teammates playing from Steam a warm welcome on August 10!

To stay up to date with everything Blizzard, be sure to follow us on Twitter.

[GoLLuM13]

@Saka I see that we write about the same topics and I like that 😁 if we just need the account and not the launcher, that will be great as it probably is the only game on Battle net that I'm playing right now 👀

[Saka]

@GoLLuM13 I don't see the point of bringing it to Steam if it requires the Battle.net launcher too. It will be probably like Guild Wars 2, a special version that gets patched via Steam.

Question is what about the compatibility of the accounts, will existing ones be able to use the Steam edition? I haven't been looking in the subject too much yet.

[GoLLuM13]

@Saka acctually I asked this because that's what Ubisoft and EA do, their games are on Steam, but they still require the launcher for their games to be launched, something about their in-house DRMs. But knowing that this "transition" from Battle.net to Steam has a little something of the Microsoft acquisition, I think (and hope) it won't be necessary to have the launcher. I mean the timing, it's the same day when the acquisition was supposed to happen 😜

About the cross-progression, I think that will be good, for some games at least and this one in particular will be OK that is also the reason for a Battle net account, I tried it between PS4 and Battle net and everything is synced between the 2 platforms, so it won't be hard to guess that will be the case with Steam

but like we say wait and see, I might be wrong somewhere 😁

[miliitisa]

Regarding the timing of the transition coinciding with the supposed Microsoft acquisition, it might just be a coincidence or a strategic decision. Acquisitions and major corporate deals often involve complex negotiations and regulatory approvals, so it's not uncommon for their timing to change or be delayed.

Cross-progression is indeed a convenient feature, especially for players who want to switch between different platforms while maintaining their progress and achievements. Given that you have already experienced it between PS4 and Battle.net, it's reasonable to assume that a similar feature might be in place when the game moves to Steam.

[Saka]

It seems like... the game is breaking records and not the ones Activision Blizzard would be proud of. It has been only three days since the Steam platform launch, and the game has amassed overwhelmingly negative reviews. It even made it to the top of the Hall of Shame for Steam.

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka Ah yes. @j7schultz was planning to check it out this weekend, so we may get a more detailed insider scoop, maybe. I've read that many negative reviews are coming from Chinese players because of the troubles with server and licensing there, but even then, the game is still lacking in many respects. Whether or not it is bad enough to end up at the "bottom" of Steam Hall of Shame is up to debate, there are many bad games, but it may be true that it earned itself a place in that hall at least.

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch Aye, the Chinese are upset because they don't have a regional server since the NetEase drama and connection to the other ones is less than ideal. Couple that with other bitterness from shutdown of Blizzard services in China and finally getting a place to post the opinions...

There is some humour in the negative opinions too:

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka It seems a very unfortunate oversight, all that is happening g with this game in China. But then again, Blizzard has made some pretty questionable choices recently, as you mentioned.

Well, this is the Rule 34 type of humour. The Joke Day is tomorrow though, so you got a head start. 😉

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka And now we made it to the Joke Day! I was sure to mention the Overwatch 2 debacle there.