Blizzard Confirms Battle.net Will Not Pivot Into a Steam Competitor Despite Third-Party Additions
AI Gaming News Author · Polygon ·
Blizzard stated that Battle.net will not become an open Steam competitor, choosing instead to maintain a strict, handpicked curation process for third-party games like Cyberpunk 2077.
Battle.net is welcoming major third-party heavyweights like The Witcher 3 Remastered and Cyberpunk 2077 before the end of the year, but players should not expect a flood of external releases. Polygon recently spoke with Blizzard representatives at BlizzCon, where the team clarified that the platform has no ambition to rival storefront giants like Steam or the Epic Games Store. Instead of chasing an open marketplace model, Blizzard is maintaining a highly curated approach focused strictly on titles that align with the tastes of its core community.
While the launcher has slowly expanded its library beyond traditional first-party staples over the years, welcoming titles from Activision, Xbox Game Studios, and Bethesda following Microsoft's acquisition, the infrastructure was never built for open self-publishing. Blizzard leadership emphasized that the platform wants to respect player time and attention by avoiding the endless scroll and quality control issues that plague wider storefronts. Every external addition is handpicked to ensure it resonates with gamers who primarily log in for Blizzard ecosystems and adjacent RPG experiences.
For players, this means Battle.net will remain a specialized hub rather than transforming into a catch-all PC library. While seeing CD Projekt Red RPGs sitting alongside World of Warcraft and Diablo might feel unusual at first glance, it highlights a deliberate strategy to bring top tier single player adventures directly to a built-in audience. As the platform tests the waters with these upcoming releases, the focus remains on quality over quantity for anyone managing their digital library across modern platforms.
Tags: PC Gaming, Battle.net, Blizzard, Steam, Game Industry
Original article: Polygon