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  • Re: Diablo IV on Steam

    From Rin Stowleigh@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Thu Oct 5 18:53:28 2023
    On Thu, 05 Oct 2023 18:48:09 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> 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)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Spalls Hurgenson@21:1/5 to All on Thu Oct 5 18:48:09 2023
    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.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Ant@21:1/5 to Spalls Hurgenson on Fri Oct 6 01:49:51 2023
    I assume battle.net stuff is still required.


    Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> 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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    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Zaghadka@21:1/5 to All on Fri Oct 6 00:08:15 2023
    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

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From H1M3M@21:1/5 to Spalls Hurgenson on Fri Oct 6 12:45:36 2023
    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.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Spalls Hurgenson@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Fri Oct 6 09:24:44 2023
    On Fri, 6 Oct 2023 12:45:36 +0200, H1M3M <[email protected]> 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".

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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