In an unexpected announcement today, Blizzard revealed that their games will be available via Steam for the first time ever. Battle.net has been the exclusive home of Blizzard games for PC players for decades.
Over the years, the platform has evolved to align with burgeoning technologies, capabilities, and community expectations. An aspect of these expectations, echoed by Blizzard’s good pals at Xbox, is breaking down barriers between gaming communities. Enlivening this, Blizzard will roll out selected PC titles on the Steam platform in the coming months, starting with Overwatch 2 on August 10, 2023.
The game’s Steam page is live now and available to wishlist right here. Blizz representatives say this is about more than just Battle.net or PC players. The initiative is part of the studio’s sweeping endeavour to share their games with players around the world, making Blizzard titles as easy as possible to access and play. An essential part of this, says the studio, is allowing gamers to experience the Blizzard universe with friends, old and new, regardless of how they choose to play.
“It’s our goal at Blizzard to listen to players and try to exceed their expectations in everything we do,” says President of Blizzard Entertainment, Mike Ybarra. “Gamers and developers are both going to benefit from Overwatch 2 coming to Steam,” added Gabe Newell, the President of Steam Developer, Valve. “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,” he continued.
Initially launching in October 2022, Overwatch 2 is a free-to-play team-based hero shooter. It supports cross-play and cross-progression and is currently available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Overwatch 2’s availability on Steam is in addition to and not replacing Battle.net, so existing players can continue with no changes required if they prefer to stay on the game’s original platform.
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. Regarding what’s next, Blizzard has promised to share details about other games coming to Steam “when the time is right”.
