Blizzard Entertainment is bringing its games to Steam, starting with Overwatch 2
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What you need to know
Blizzard Entertainment is set to bring some games to Steam, starting with their free-to-play hero shooter.
That’s via ablog postshared on Wednesday, where Blizzard Entertainment explained thatOverwatch 2and other Blizzard games are headed to Valve’s uber-popular PC gaming storefront. While we don’t have a full list of games, we know Overwatch 2 will be launching on Steam on Aug. 10, 2023.
“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.”
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“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.”
Players on Steam will still have to have a Battle.net account to play Overwatch 2, as the service handles the game’s cross-platform functionality and more. While Overwatch 2 has garnered tens of millions of players since it first launched, thecancellation of the originally-intended story mode contenthas been met with criticism.
Windows Central’s take
This really isn’t surprising. After all, today is the day after the original merger deadline for Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard — both partiesagreed to extend the deadline into Octoberto finish up any regulatory concerns — and Blizzard staff were likely told to start the transition to supporting Steam with Overwatch 2.
It’s similar to what we saw happen with theBethesda Launcher after Microsoft acquired ZeniMax Media, though Battle.net is far more complicated, handling back-end services for Activision Blizzard games.
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Overwatch 2: Watchpoint Pack
Overwatch 2 is a free-to-play game, so everyone can jump in at no cost whatsoever. If you want some more extras, you can grab the Watchpoint Pack, which includes some bonuses like premium currency and the first season’s battle pass.
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Samuel Tolbert is a freelance writer covering gaming news, previews, reviews, interviews and different aspects of the gaming industry, specifically focusing on Xbox and PC gaming on Windows Central. You can find him on Twitter@SamuelTolbert.
