Blizzard is bringing Overwatch 2 to Steam, with more games to follow
Blizzard Entertainment has announced a new initiative in which it’s bringing a select group of its games to Steam, with Overwatch 2 being the first game to make the jump. Right now, most of Blizzard’s games are only available on Blizzard’s own Battle.net launcher, so the news is sure to please Steam fans.
Overwatch 2 will come to Steam on August 10, and like it is on Battle.net (and every other platform), it will be free-to-play there as well. It does come with some small caveats though — players who want to play Overwatch 2 on Steam will still need to sign up for and log into a Battle.net account, which will also enable cross-platform play and progression.
There is good news though, as the Steam version of Overwatch 2 will feature Steam achievements, the ability to invite Steam friends to play in-game, and all the other things that makes Steam such an attractive platform on PC. It may even make it easier for Steam Deck owners to install and play the game, which is currently a somewhat convoluted process that involves booting into desktop mode and installing a separate launcher.
Overwatch 2 is the first game Blizzard is bringing to Steam, but others are said to be following in the future
Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment president Mike Ybarra says that the change is all about bringing more options to PC gamers, and bringing the company's games to where players are playing.
"It’s our goal at Blizzard to listen to players and try to exceed their expectations in everything we do,” Ybarra said, “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."
Gabe Newell, the president of Valve, said that the addition of Blizzard games on Steam will help developers too, as Blizzard will help the company evolve the platform's features.
"Gamers and developers are both going to benefit from Overwatch 2 coming to Steam," Newell said, "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 for what other games Blizzard will be bringing to Steam in the future, the company is staying quiet for now. We can probably make a few guesses though — the recently-released Diablo 4 is probably a good candidate, especially with the game enjoying massive success ahead of its first season. Hearthstone, Blizzard’s free-to-play card game based on the Warcraft universe, also feels pretty likely.
Other games, like World of Warcraft and Starcraft 2, feel unlikely, but without any kind of confirmation from Blizzard itself, there’s not much more we can do than guess.
