Diablo IV Will Be Releasing On Steam, On An Interesting Date

gameranx.com:

Blizzard has revealed they will be releasing Diablo IV on Steam, on an interesting date.

Diablo IV originally released on June 5 2023, on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows, but only on the Battlenet client. At the time, there were clearly no plans to release the game on Steam.

However, in the coming months, it has become clearer and clearer that Microsoft will be able to close their deal to acquire the game’s parent company, Activision Blizzard King. We had already seen several Call of Duty games relisted on the Xbox store, with their online lobbies still very much working. Blizzard has also published Overwatch 2 to Steam.

Diablo IV will come to Steam on October 17, 2023, as per their newly revealed Steam page. That date is curious because, as noted by Tom Warren, it will also be the deadline of Microsoft’s deal to acquire Activision. We already know that the last real impediment to this deal closing is the CMA. The CMA has released a provisional decision indicating they are leaning towards approving the deal, with their deadline for a final decision coming up this month.

So, depending on how events play out, Microsoft could finish acquiring Activision before or on the date Diablo IV comes to Steam.

Truthfully, however, this all appears to be a huge coincidence. We had already pointed out that Blizzard published Overwatch 2 up on Steam, when the franchise had previously been exclusive to Battlenet.

There was no real impediment to Blizzard publishing Diablo IV on Steam. In fact, they may have already planned to do it whatever the outcome of the planned merger with Microsoft would be.

Microsoft would choose to publish Diablo IV on Steam because it aligns with their values, and strategies.