Overwatch 2 is coming to Steam, with more Blizzard titles planned

Blizzard has announced that its team-based shooter Overwatch 2 will be available on Steam in August, marking the first time that the company has released its titles on PC outside of Battle.net.

The details:

• In a new blog post, the publisher announced that it will now offer not only Overwatch 2 but also a "selection" of Blizzard titles on the much more popular Steam beginning August 10. "As we've evolved, the industry has evolved too," Blizzard explained. "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."
• While this is exciting news, it is worth noting that Blizzard's Steam titles will still require a Battle.net account to access features like cross-play, just as Activision's Call of Duty requires an Activision account regardless of platform. However, the decision opens the door to full Steam Deck support for the company's titles, with many fans requesting that Overwatch 2, World of Warcraft, and Diablo IV be playable on the device out of the box.
• Blizzard president Mike Ybarra stated in an accompanying statement that Battle.net "remains a priority," and that the decision was made in collaboration with Valve after years of fans requesting Steam releases of its games. It's also possible that concerns about player counts influenced Blizzard's decision to expand outside of the platform, as it was revealed that Activision's decision to lock the Call of Duty franchise behind Battle.net resulted in a lack of growth for both the series and Battle.net over three years.

More Activision Blizzard news:

• Players are outraged after Blizzard issued a long list of nerfs to all five classes in Diablo IV's most recent patch, with some claiming that the patch "ruined" endgame builds. The changes also have an impact on power leveling and have exacerbated issues with the game's highly criticized itemization system.
• Sony and Microsoft have agreed to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for at least the next ten years, following Microsoft's victory over the Federal Trade Commission, which allows it to complete its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The rest of the publisher's IPs, however, are not covered by the agreement, leaving the door open for future exclusive entries in iconic franchises like Spyro and Crash.