Blizzard's Diablo IV Finds a New Home on Steam Coinciding with the Launch of Season 2

Diablo IV, Blizzard Entertainment's latest fantasy action RPG hit, is gearing up to land on the Steam platform on October 17. The same day also marks the premiere of the game's Season of Blood on all platforms. Details of the game and its upcoming features are showcased on Diablo IV's freshly minted Steam page.

Players who opt to purchase Diablo IV via Steam will need to establish a Battle.net account if they don't already possess one. This requirement facilitates cross-platform play with Battle.net users and console players. Embracing the spirit of Steam, the platform's version of Diablo IV will include features like Achievements and the option to invite Steam friends to join in the virtual combat from the Steam friends list.

Highlighting the communal aspect of Diablo IV, Blizzard declared in a blog post, "Diablo IV is not just about conquering demonic foes and collecting epic loot; it's equally about creating lasting memories with companions old and new." The renowned developer proclaimed its commitment to breaking down barriers, aiming to embolden "every adventurer to protect Sanctuary."

In sync with the debut of Diablo IV on Steam, Season 2, dubbed as the Season of Blood, will also roll out, promising a host of fresh content. This includes a vampire-themed seasonal questline, 22 fresh Vampiric Powers to earn, and five formidable endgame bosses. Furthermore, several quality-of-life improvements have been made, encompassing areas like the ease of playing seasonal content without campaign completion, enhanced inventory and stash handling, and increased XP to lessen the endgame grind.

The launch strategy for Diablo IV closely mirrors that adopted for Overwatch 2, Blizzard's popular team-based shooter game, which launched on Steam in August with the start of Invasion, the game's sixth season. As previously mentioned by Blizzard, the decision to expand to Steam was contingent on the right time.

The Steam launch of Overwatch 2, however, didn't experience a remarkably successful journey. While the game does enjoy commendable player counts on Steam and regularly clocks more than 20,000 concurrent players, user reviews have been largely unfavorable, bringing Overwatch 2 among the most poorly rated games on the platform. At present, it boasts an "overwhelmingly negative" user review score, with merely 10% of its approximately 200,000 user reviews yielding positive feedback.

Many negative reviews hinge on Blizzard's decision to cancel Overwatch 2's anticipated PvE Hero Mode, which was touted as a significant highlight of the sequel game. Game director Aaron Keller responded to the backlash in a blog post, admitting that Hero Missions was "an ambitious project that we ultimately couldn't deliver." Keller offered reassurance that the focus would remain on the future and the continuous enhancement of Overwatch 2.