Blizzard games are coming to Steam

In an of itself, this is a potential benefit. Steam is one of the only store/launcher platforms I actually choose to use (along with Itch, on occasion. Not counting the open source/libre "meta launchers" like Playnite, Heroic, or Lutris etc) so getting away from everyone pushing their own launcher and network for everything is a step in the right direction. However, I have to mention that Blizz has been consistent in either launching directly and/or using their BattleNet launcher for years, but it has expanded a bit under the Activision era to encompass other titles including Call of Duty and the like. BattleNet was mostly a first-party launcher without a lot of extraneous "lets become a platform for all kinds of 3rd party stuff for no good reason" stuff, so it was far from the worst. It wasn't that long ago that others, including both Ubisoft and Microsoft have realizing that releasing their games on Steam as an option is far better than not between both Steam's userbase and its features.

When it comes to Steam, the fact they're leading with Overwatch 2 is...unsurprising. Frankly, the title is struggling since their asinine horrendous monetization plans, cutting of the full PVE campaigns that was supposed to be the legitimacy for the "2" in the first place, and generally making a grindy, FOMO heavy battle pass the requirement. I am curious that it mentions "Battle Net account" required but at least at the moment does not say Battle Net launcher, so its at least possible this will be a SSO "account sync through" , not a "Steam launches the launcher" style thing like some other titles, MMO or otherwise. I get the impression ActiBlizz is hoping that OW2 will be exposed to a bunch of new players on Steam not familiar with their garbage monetization and policies which will prop up the game with new blood at least for awhile. I have no objection to Steam itself, but I absolutely do have a problem if OW2 doesn't change its business model. In the long term, I'm curious if this will mean that other Battle Net titles will be available on Steam and if so to what degree of integration .
 
RanceJustice said:
In an of itself, this is a potential benefit. Steam is one of the only store/launcher platforms I actually choose to use (along with Itch, on occasion. Not counting the open source/libre "meta launchers" like Playnite, Heroic, or Lutris etc) so getting away from everyone pushing their own launcher and network for everything is a step in the right direction. However, I have to mention that Blizz has been consistent in either launching directly and/or using their BattleNet launcher for years, but it has expanded a bit under the Activision era to encompass other titles including Call of Duty and the like. BattleNet was mostly a first-party launcher without a lot of extraneous "lets become a platform for all kinds of 3rd party stuff for no good reason" stuff, so it was far from the worst. It wasn't that long ago that others, including both Ubisoft and Microsoft have realizing that releasing their games on Steam as an option is far better than not between both Steam's userbase and its features.

When it comes to Steam, the fact they're leading with Overwatch 2 is...unsurprising. Frankly, the title is struggling since their asinine horrendous monetization plans, cutting of the full PVE campaigns that was supposed to be the legitimacy for the "2" in the first place, and generally making a grindy, FOMO heavy battle pass the requirement. I am curious that it mentions "Battle Net account" required but at least at the moment does not say Battle Net launcher, so its at least possible this will be a SSO "account sync through" , not a "Steam launches the launcher" style thing like some other titles, MMO or otherwise. I get the impression ActiBlizz is hoping that OW2 will be exposed to a bunch of new players on Steam not familiar with their garbage monetization and policies which will prop up the game with new blood at least for awhile. I have no objection to Steam itself, but I absolutely do have a problem if OW2 doesn't change its business model. In the long term, I'm curious if this will mean that other Battle Net titles will be available on Steam and if so to what degree of integration .
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It's not going to change the business model. In fact it has largely been duplicated in D4. Totally agree about OW2 though, it was a total joke. And the fact that soon they are releasing the PvE expansion for $15 just makes me laugh.
 
Bethesda games moved to Steam
Sony Playstation games showing up on Steam
Blizzard/Activision games going to Steam
Nintendo Emulators coming to Steam
Microsoft brought all of the Halos' to Steam.

Don't they know PC gaming is dead?!?!?! Plus the sky is falling too. I mean it fell like 5 or 6 times already, but it's falling again.

/s
 
Makes sense. Microsoft won't buy Blizzard, but they will buy Steam and will control distribution of them.

Really though, I do wonder what happens to Steam when Mr. Newell kicks the bucket. I am sure Microsoft will put a lot of effort in trying to acquire Valve, and I doubt whoever takes over will keep it private for long.
 
Flogger23m said:
Makes sense. Microsoft won't buy Blizzard, but they will buy Steam and will control distribution of them.

Really though, I do wonder what happens to Steam when Mr. Newell kicks the bucket. I am sure Microsoft will put a lot of effort in trying to acquire Valve, and I doubt whoever takes over will keep it private for long.
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Microsoft will literally own Blizzard by the end of the year.
 
GotNoRice said:
It really sounds like this is going to be no different than how GTA5 works, where you can launch it through Steam, but it still uses the Rockstar Games Launcher.

https://www.polygon.com/23799285/blizzard-pc-games-steam-overwatch-2-release-date
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Hum, must be possible to have a naunce between needing an account (it is an online game) and a launcher. Maybe that will be the case, but the wording was quite clear about it:

879368_1689797605535.png


Same for the article, they seem to indicate that steam would be more than just a store:
Gamers will have another platform where they can play a beloved game that utilizes the capabilities of Steam
 
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It would be convenient for me if they do this for Diablo 2 Resurrected. It's a pain in the ass on the Steam Deck to change my shortcut to launch battle.net every 30 days run the game for 1 second and change everything back just to play the thing offline.
 
Armenius said:
Half way down the first page:
https://hardforum.com/threads/blizzard-games-are-coming-to-steam.2029450/post-1045694409
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What I see from that twitter post is a short comment that is intentionally vague, whereas the confirmation that a Battle.net account will still be required was not vague.

The comment he was responding to was asking if it was going to "just" start battle.net. That's not how it works with the Rockstar Games Launcher when you launch GTA5 either; it's automatic, but it still launches it.
 
PC is currently more profitable to Activision Blizzard than consoles
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/pc-is-more-profitable-to-activision-blizzard-than-next-gen-consoles/

According to the publisher, for the 6 months of the year, PC made $1.25 billion. For comparison purposes, all consoles combined made $1.19 billion in that same period. However, even the PC platform was no match for mobile. Mobile is currently the golden cow of Activision Blizzard as it brought in $1.9 billion.

Great little article giving context as to why we are seeing these games coming to Steam now.
 
GotNoRice said:
What I see from that twitter post is a short comment that is intentionally vague, whereas the confirmation that a Battle.net account will still be required was not vague.

The comment he was responding to was asking if it was going to "just" start battle.net. That's not how it works with the Rockstar Games Launcher when you launch GTA5 either; it's automatic, but it still launches it.
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Requiring an account does not mean requiring additional software. It's not unusual for multiplayer games to require a separate account to log into the servers.
 
Armenius said:
Requiring an account does not mean requiring additional software. It's not unusual for multiplayer games to require a separate account to log into the servers.
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A non-steam account is essentially a requirement for cross-platform or cross-pc store multiplayer games. If it's only on Steam they can use steamworks but that requires a steam account, which would be a weird thing to require on Xbox or something.
 
cageymaru said:
PC is currently more profitable to Activision Blizzard than consoles
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/pc-is-more-profitable-to-activision-blizzard-than-next-gen-consoles/

According to the publisher, for the 6 months of the year, PC made $1.25 billion. For comparison purposes, all consoles combined made $1.19 billion in that same period. However, even the PC platform was no match for mobile. Mobile is currently the golden cow of Activision Blizzard as it brought in $1.9 billion.

Great little article giving context as to why we are seeing these games coming to Steam now.
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I do wonder how much of it is still tied to WoW revenue. The speed they pump out mounts and stuff, that stuff must sale even if subs continue to go down.
 
cageymaru said:
PC is currently more profitable to Activision Blizzard than consoles
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/pc-is-more-profitable-to-activision-blizzard-than-next-gen-consoles/

According to the publisher, for the 6 months of the year, PC made $1.25 billion. For comparison purposes, all consoles combined made $1.19 billion in that same period. However, even the PC platform was no match for mobile. Mobile is currently the golden cow of Activision Blizzard as it brought in $1.9 billion.

Great little article giving context as to why we are seeing these games coming to Steam now.
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Its no surprise that with the big Blizz games predominantly on PC and even many Activision titles, that PC would lead over console. However "PC" doesn't necessarily mean Steam, but its good they're open to Steam as opposed to only on their proprietary launcher. However, the whole thing will mobile making so much is not a surprise if you remember that its not Blizz, not just ActiBlizz as we think of it, but ABK meaning "King" - of CandyCrush fame. However its rather infuriating to see mobile games make so much with the monetization strategies they use - how we ended up in a timeline where "mobile gaming" isn't just "lets bring touchscreen and graphics to the game designs we love" but instead is "lets use excessive psychological tricks, bring whole new exploitative measures aboard that are not often tolerated elsewhere but hey its mobile! among other garbage. This includes Genshin Impact and every single "card based gacha" and a whole host of others, including some otherwise potentially interestingly developed titles like Limbus Company, the Wizarding World games etc.. that were it not for their monetization could be worthwhile.
Furious_Styles said:
It's not going to change the business model. In fact it has largely been duplicated in D4. Totally agree about OW2 though, it was a total joke. And the fact that soon they are releasing the PvE expansion for $15 just makes me laugh.
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Lets see if people are annoyed enough. D3 was launched with a real money auction house that thankfully got quashed , but I don't have faith that D4 will change much (not sure if this upcoming "season" is their first one, or if its the second after a pre-season that had a pre-season pass or something), but OW2 may be spiraling enough a change will come if this exposure to new Steam players doesn't give it the infusion of new blood they're aiming to extract. $15 "PVE expansion" is laughable especially considering the rest and the fact they admit it won't be anything near to what was originally planned because they can't literally afford to do it right.
 
LurkerLito said:
It would be convenient for me if they do this for Diablo 2 Resurrected. It's a pain in the ass on the Steam Deck to change my shortcut to launch battle.net every 30 days run the game for 1 second and change everything back just to play the thing offline.
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Why don't you make a second shortcut?
 
1_rick said:
Why don't you make a second shortcut?
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lol ... I don't know why I never did it that way. I remember thinking it once but didn't do it I think because I didn't want it to show up on the steam menu, but there is the hidden option that I completely forgot about, so I could just hide it. :facepalm:
 
Flogger23m said:
Makes sense. Microsoft won't buy Blizzard, but they will buy Steam and will control distribution of them.

Really though, I do wonder what happens to Steam when Mr. Newell kicks the bucket. I am sure Microsoft will put a lot of effort in trying to acquire Valve, and I doubt whoever takes over will keep it private for long.
Click to expand...

I could see Newell selling out eventually... especially if M$ came calling... that's where he got his start in the industry
 
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