Can You Play Overwatch 2 On Steam?

Can You Play Overwatch 2 On Steam?
Images via Activision Blizzard

Written by 

Joshua Boyles

Published 

20th Jan 2023 12:46

Overwatch 2 is an incredibly popular PC game, but can you play it on Steam? Anyone who plays Overwatch 2 on PC regularly will know that, for a lot of gamers, Steam is the platform of choice. However, not all of gaming's biggest titles are available to play on there. This begs the question, can you play Overwatch 2 on Steam?

Overwatch 2: Can You Play On Steam?

Overwatch 2 Steam
Click to enlarge

The short and simple answer is no, you can't play Overwatch 2 on Steam. Overwatch 2 is developed and published by Activision Blizzard, which means that it is only available to play on Activision's own platform, Battle.net.

This is likely to be frustrating for a lot of PC players that like to keep all of their games under one platform. It's especially frustrating given that the most recent Call of Duty release, Modern Warfare 2, was released on both Battle.net and Steam simultaneously.

There are likely legacy development issues that prevent Overwatch 2 from being ported to Steam. For example, the first game was only available on Battle.net, and Overwatch 2 largely uses much of the same framework and assets, including anti-cheat. Moving all of this over to Steam would clearly be a large upheaval for the developers at Blizzard.

Overwatch 2: Add Non-Steam Game To My Library

If you're really keen to access Overwatch 2 via Steam, there is a workaround. You can add Overwatch 2 to your library as a Non-Steam Game. To do this, open up Steam and click on the 'Games' tab in the top left corner. Then click on "Add a Non-Steam Game to My Library".

This will open up a new window. Here, look for Overwatch in the 'Program' column. Once you've found it, select the tickbox next to it and hit the "Add Selected Programs" button.

Now, head to your library and you should see Overwatch 2 appear in your list of games. Clicking "Play" on Overwatch 2 will launch the game alongside Battle.net, and it will also show your fellow Steam friends that you are playing Overwatch 2 as a non-Steam game.

For more Overwatch 2 guides, keep reading GGRecon.


Joshua Boyles
About the author
Joshua Boyles
Joshua is the Guides Editor at GGRecon. After graduating with a BA (Hons) degree in Broadcast Journalism, he previously wrote for publications such as FragHero and GameByte. You can often find him diving deep into fantasy RPGs such as Skyrim and The Witcher, or tearing it up in Call of Duty and Battlefield. He's also often spotted hiking in the wilderness, usually blasting Arctic Monkeys.
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