• Can’t wait to watch the steam charts. I’d be especially interested once they put the other blizzard titles on Steam as well since then we can estimate the number of players per game out of the “monthly active users” they report in their quarterly.

    Blizzard is desperate here. And if there’s one thing about the internet it’s that people are good as sharks for smelling blood in the water. It’s the objectively correct move, but it could still end up backfiring if people can actually SEE just how dead the game is, and leave negative steam reviews.

    Also, who exactly is going to install it through steam? Almost everyone who was going to play Overwatch already has. There’s going to be a minimum of people who just don’t want to have any game launcher but steam on their pc and really wanted to play Overwatch but couldn’t stomach the battle . net client. If it gets steam deck certified that is the only draw I can really see aside from a smattering of casual new sign ups.

    Sad days. This was my favourite game for a very long time and it feels like potential squandered on a level not seen until Musk came along and bought Twitter.

    Edit: spaced out the battle net to not be recognized as a link

    • Blizzard is desperate here. Am I right in thinking this is the first time they’ve put anything on Steam?

      Enjoyed Overwatch back in the day, i.e. when it was new; but really not a fan of them reducing team sizes to make it a more conventional “fit” with other ‘esports’.

    • just how dead the game is

      Is it though? Can’t be by player numbers since it takes less time to get in match than CS:GO and you wouldn’t call that dead.

      Also, who exactly is going to install it through steam?

      I am. It’s the only game I have on Battle net and after OW2 is on Steam I can uninstall Battle net.

      • I highly doubt Battle net will be removed.

        Like so many titles before it, it’s likely you’ll just get to launch Battle net from Steam now.

        So, no reason to uninstall anything. Or install anything for that matter.

      • quarterly reports of MAU for blizz went from 45mil at OW2 launch to 27mil to 26mil and the last one has 10mil diablo 4 players. It may not be dead but it’s hemorrhaging players like there’s no tomorrow.

        Launch quarter for OW2 also had a wow expansion launch but it sounds like it was mostly bought by the smaller, core fanbase who have kept playing. Either way, adding 10mil MAU in Q2 and not being able to get the number above Q1 via a new game does not speak well of their retention.