Blizzard is planning to make an aggressive move by saying today that it intends to make Overwatch 2 the company’s first game to ever be available on Steam following a financial report by Activision Blizzard that painted a less-than-stellar picture of the game’s current state.
Traditionally, Blizzard has made all of its titles available through its own Battle.net platform. But in a post today, the developer suggested it is looking to expand the game’s audience by working with Valve to get it on Steam. The game will be available on Steam starting on Aug. 10, the same day as the release of Overwatch 2: Invasion, which includes PvE Story Missions.
“It’s our goal at Blizzard to listen to players and try to exceed their expectations in everything we do,” Blizzard president Mike Ybarra said in a statement. “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.”
The move comes following a Q2 financial report this morning that noted player engagement and investment in OW2 had “declined sequentially in the quarter.”
Meanwhile, the financial report also mentioned that the Overwatch League, which monopolizes the game’s professional scene, will have a team vote for an “updated operating agreement.” At the end of the 2023 OWL season, teams that do not wish to continue with the league will be allowed to exit the league and be paid a termination fee of $6 million if they choose to do so.
Adding Overwatch 2 to Steam will likely be received well by fans because of how prominent Steam is as a platform, but the timing of the move and announcement can’t be understated. As Activision Blizzard esports leagues “continue to face headwinds,” according to the company’s financial report, this move may very well be viewed as an attempt at an easy PR victory to counter-balance some of the more difficult announcements made earlier in the day.
