Apparently "Diablo IV" is coming out on Steam.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2344520/Diablo_IV/

This is actually a rather significant shift, since Blizzard games
generally stick to Activision's Battle.net service ("Diablo 4" will
still require Battle.Net, however). Other than "Overwatch 2", none of
Blizzard's games have been available on Steam. Activision has released
other games onto Steam (the latest "Call of Duty", for instance) but
Blizzard games remained sacrosanct in that regard.

I wonder what prompted the change. Activision (and other services)
initially rejected Steam because they didn't want to share the profits
with Valve; their return seems to indicate the loss of marketshare
caused by leaving Steam was much greater than the savings earned by
not giving Valve their cut.

On Thu, 05 Oct 2023 18:48:09 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson
<spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

>I wonder what prompted the change.

Existing legal relationships between Microsoft and Valve maybe? (at
least I think the acquisition is happening... really haven't made it
my priority to follow that story)

I assume battle.net stuff is still required.

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

> Apparently "Diablo IV" is coming out on Steam.
> https://store.steampowered.com/app/2344520/Diablo_IV/

> This is actually a rather significant shift, since Blizzard games
> generally stick to Activision's Battle.net service ("Diablo 4" will
> still require Battle.Net, however). Other than "Overwatch 2", none of
> Blizzard's games have been available on Steam. Activision has released
> other games onto Steam (the latest "Call of Duty", for instance) but
> Blizzard games remained sacrosanct in that regard.

> I wonder what prompted the change. Activision (and other services)
> initially rejected Steam because they didn't want to share the profits
> with Valve; their return seems to indicate the loss of marketshare
> caused by leaving Steam was much greater than the savings earned by
> not giving Valve their cut.

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/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
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On Fri, 06 Oct 2023 01:49:51 +0000, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action, Ant
wrote:

>I assume battle.net stuff is still required.

+1.

EA stuff is on Steam too, but it requires an EA Games account and running
a stub of the full app.

--
Zag

No one ever said on their deathbed, 'Gee, I wish I had
spent more time alone with my computer.' ~Dan(i) Bunten

Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>
> Apparently "Diablo IV" is coming out on Steam.
> https://store.steampowered.com/app/2344520/Diablo_IV/
>
> I wonder what prompted the change. Activision (and other services)
> initially rejected Steam because they didn't want to share the
> profits with Valve; their return seems to indicate the loss of
> marketshare caused by leaving Steam was much greater than the savings
> earned by not giving Valve their cut.

Dunno. Maybe they want to keep the investors happy? Similar to media
streaming services, there probably is no no more room for growth, as in
gamers that still don't have a Battle.net account are not going to
create one, no matter how good the game is.

The only time I remember Blizzard allowed publishing games outside of
Battle.net was when the classics that use the earliest pre-Starcraft
version of Battle.Net were finally released on GOG.

https://www.gog.com/en/games?developers=blizzard-entertainment-inc

As for the matter of Diablo IV being on Steam, I don't expect it to
integrate too much with Valve's network. The store page indicates that
it requires a Battle.Net Account, so I'm worried that even if it is in
Steam, it won't let me play with my Steam friends and i will have to add
them to Battle.Net. This is more or less the issue with games like Forza
Horizon 4 on Steam. I hoped to see drivatars based on my Steam friends,
but only the Xbox friends were there :/

Offtopic: I'm considering buying the console version of Diablo 3, as it
can be played offline, at least on Nintendo Switch.

On Fri, 6 Oct 2023 12:45:36 +0200, H1M3M <wipnoah@gmail.com> wrote:
>Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

>> I wonder what prompted the change. Activision (and other services)
>> initially rejected Steam because they didn't want to share the
>> profits with Valve; their return seems to indicate the loss of
>> marketshare caused by leaving Steam was much greater than the savings
>> earned by not giving Valve their cut.

>Dunno. Maybe they want to keep the investors happy? Similar to media
>streaming services, there probably is no no more room for growth, as in
>gamers that still don't have a Battle.net account are not going to
>create one, no matter how good the game is.

Except users will STILL have to create a Battle.net account, even if
they buy it from Steam (similar to how you need an EA/Origin account
for most new EA games purchased through Steam, or a Ubisoft/UPlay
account).

But, quite honestly, the question was facetious. Why is Blizzard
putting games on Steam? Because Battle.net was too tiny a marketplace.
As triple-A games become more invested in post-sale transactions
(MTX), it becomes especially important to open yourself up to the
largest market possible. And that is Steam.

>As for the matter of Diablo IV being on Steam, I don't expect it to
>integrate too much with Valve's network. The store page indicates that
>it requires a Battle.Net Account, so I'm worried that even if it is in
>Steam, it won't let me play with my Steam friends and i will have to add
>them to Battle.Net. This is more or less the issue with games like Forza
>Horizon 4 on Steam. I hoped to see drivatars based on my Steam friends,
>but only the Xbox friends were there :/

Diablo IV will require Battle.net but it will have SOME direct
integration with Steam. Specifically, achievements and friends-lists
have been mentioned, as well as a more nebulous "other platform
features".