Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 ditches Steam in favor of Battle.net

May 17, 2018
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 ditches Steam in favor of Battle.net
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Call of Duty is coming to Battle.net, according to a promotional livestream for Treyarch's upcoming multiplayer blast-'em-up Call of Duty: Black Ops 4.

This will be the second non-Blizzard game sold on Battle.net (the PC version of Bungie's Destiny 2 debuted on the platform last year), and it seems likely that more will follow since parent company Activision Blizzard has more control over (and earns more from) game sales through Battle.net than through Steam.

Like Destiny 2, it appears as though Black Ops 4 will take advantage of Battle.net's established payment system, game broadcasting tech, and friend lists. The fact that the game will tie into Blizzard's extant social systems is especially notable given that Black Ops 4 will be multiplayer-focused, with a new battle royale mode but no no single-player campaign.

"Those of us at Blizzard have been friends with Treyarch for many, many years," Blizzard's Jeff Kaplan said during a recorded segment of the livestream. "When it came to working on Overwatch, we consulted with Treyarch on a number of features...[now] we're going to be able to talk to players across Black Ops 4, into Overwatch, which should be pretty amazing."

Unlike Destiny 2Black Ops 4's PC version is expected to release on the same day as the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions: October 12th.

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