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[TheYanger]

Lose money? Hah, you are deluded. GTA V has most likely more owners on Steam than only on RGSC, and for those copies they get full profit, unlike all CD-keys that most likely are from cheaper retail markets. I certainly don't think they would lose money on it. GTA is much bigger than Destiny and they didn't go exclusive.

Rockstar doesn't have a service already out there being used by hundreds of millions of people to put their game on.

Do you honestly believe that if GTA5 was proprietary rockstar launched on PC that it WOULDN'T have sold a zillion copies?

Because that's what you're asserting, with literally no way to back that up

 

[Ganado]

Rockstar doesn't have a service already out there being used by hundreds of millions of people to put their game on.

Do you honestly believe that if GTA5 was proprietary rockstar launched on PC that it WOULDN'T have sold a zillion copies?

Because that's what you're asserting, with literally no way to back that up

It would've sold many copies, but I think more of those wouldve been sold on key sites. GTA V on Steam is only sold on the Steam store, which should be more profitable than a copy sold on cdkeys.com, right?
I didn't buy OW through their online store, which most likely meant less profit.

 

[Atom Heart Mother]

destiny 2 being on it makes alot of sense and the b.net client is 100x better than steam.

it's really weird seeing people get up and arms about destiny 2 not being on their platform of choice when they can easily just go on battle.net. Polygon was right in their article, people get super defensive if a game isn't on steam.

 

[Mobius and pet octopus]

destiny 2 being on it makes alot of sense and the b.net client is 100x better than steam.

it's really weird seeing people get up and arms about destiny 2 not being on their platform of choice when they can easily just go on battle.net. Polygon was right in their article, people get super defensive if a game isn't on steam.

Incoming DDOS by hacker babies because not being on steam is evil

 

[Ganado]

destiny 2 being on it makes alot of sense and the b.net client is 100x better than steam.

it's really weird seeing people get up and arms about destiny 2 not being on their platform of choice when they can easily just go on battle.net. Polygon was right in their article, people get super defensive if a game isn't on steam.

Id there even an overlay in the BApp client? Or would I still need to use Steam for that? Also, I have bad experience with Blizzard banning me twice in both SCII and WOW. After some days they unbanned me and apologized, yet it kept on happening.

 

[Sarcasm]

They put it on bnet to avoid regional pricing I bet.

destiny 2 being on it makes alot of sense and the b.net client is 100x better than steam.

it's really weird seeing people get up and arms about destiny 2 not being on their platform of choice when they can easily just go on battle.net. Polygon was right in their article, people get super defensive if a game isn't on steam.

Of course it is better when there is really nothing on it lol.

I find it annoying that click on something and it wants to load in my browser instead of in the app...

 

[wapplew]

Wonder how they handle China market. Blizzard is huge there but they have to work with Net Ease, I guess Destiny 2 will follow the same route.
I think it will do well in Asia market thanks to Blizzard presence.

 

[Tecnniqe]

Lose money? Hah, you are deluded. GTA V has most likely more owners on Steam than only on RGSC, and for those copies they get full profit, unlike all CD-keys that most likely are from cheaper retail markets. I certainly don't think they would lose money on it. GTA is much bigger than Destiny and they didn't go exclusive.

Rockstar Social Club don't have the reach of Battle.net. Not even remotely.

Activision just threw the game into one of the best clients and into a 100% profit turnaround while also putting it into a huge community which will expand even more.

They done good.

 

[JaseC]

Receipts.

Well, Battle.net still doesn't have a Steam Community equivalent, so here's my Diablo 3 profile.

So this conclusion is based on a metric change?

And how EA's games perform when on sale. But as I said:

... at the end of the day, it's just an assumption.

I mean, that's fine, but the reality is that battle.net has a HUGE userbase and a much more tightly knit community than Steam.

Yeah, I understand the notion isn't without merit. That's what I was getting at with "I realise the service is popular." One of the reasons it is well-liked is that it predates Steam and has never shared in the stigma that Uplay, Origin and now Bethesda.net have where many consider the service to be a "Me, too" attempt that falls short and exists solely to serve the desires of the publisher rather than the needs of the customer. To be perfectly clear, I'm not trying to argue that Activision is being a big dumb-dumb head and undoubtedly, unequivocally and unquestionably shooting itself in the foot, just that more revenue isn't necessarily a forgone conclusion in instances where a publisher has given Steam the cold shoulder in favour of its own platform. I don't think that's delusional at all, even in this case.

 

[Bluth54]

Sure do! Last I heard they chased off the gambling websites off of their item economy API... not that that has stopped them from continuing on with their in-house gambling skinner box economy.

Lootboxes aren't legally considered gambling (at least in the US). They're the same thing as a trading card pack or a blind box toy, you always get something and anyone of any age can buy those.

 

[Atom Heart Mother]

Id there even an overlay in the BApp client? Or would I still need to use Steam for that? Also, I have bad experience with Blizzard banning me twice in both SCII and WOW. After some days they unbanned me and apologized, yet it kept on happening.

There's no overlay in b.net. You can access your friend's list pretty quickly in any blizzard game. Also what the hell did you do to get banned from SC2 and WoW twice?

They put it on bnet to avoid regional pricing I bet.

Of course it is better when there is really nothing on it lol.

I find it annoying that click on something and it wants to load in my browser instead of in the app...

I find it annoying actually when I'm in steam and I click on something and it refuses or doesn't load at all in the client, and it's not an internet issue. Steam will just stay stuck on a page until I restart it. The client is janky as fuck. Also, B.NET has plenty on it. It doesn't need to be flooded with more games when the games it has are already big enough.

 

[Sibylus]

Lootboxes aren't legally considered gambling (at least in the US). They're the same thing as a trading card pack or a blind box toy, you always get something and anyone of any age can buy those.

I'll defer to what is or isn't illegal, but in a practical sense I see little appreciable difference between getting nothing and getting lots of filler while in pursuit of a rare you want instead. Less shitty than nothing? Absolutely. Nonetheless exploitative and skeezy as fuck.

 

[Sarcasm]

There's no overlay in b.net. You can access your friend's list pretty quickly in any blizzard game. Also what the hell did you do to get banned from SC2 and WoW twice?



I find it annoying actually when I'm in steam and I click on something and it refuses or doesn't load at all in the client, and it's not an internet issue. Steam will just stay stuck on a page until I restart it. The client is janky as fuck. Also, B.NET has plenty on it. It doesn't need to be flooded with more games when the games it has are already big enough.

Oh I don't have issues with either launchers. But I wouldn't say one is better than the other as both aren't really for the same purpose. Which is why one has barely anything and other is flooded.

Also why one has issues as bnet doesn't get flooded with traffic due to different purpose. Correct me if I am wrong but don't even need to have the app to use blizzard games right?

Mainly to talk to people outside of the game. Right?

 

[Hektor]

Oh I don't have issues with either launchers. But I wouldn't say one is better than the other as both aren't really for the same purpose. Which is why one has barely anything and other is flooded.

Also why one has issues as bnet doesn't get flooded with traffic due to different purpose. Correct me if I am wrong but don't even need to have the app to use blizzard games right?

Mainly to talk to people outside of the game. Right?

Only Blizzards classic games like starcraft can be played without launcher (and those can't even be played with launcher, even if you want it)

 

[whyman]

So this is why I will not buy this game. I have 300+ games on Steam and I would like to keep everything there. Why not release on both? Stupid Activision.

 

[Nzyme32]

Remember that time last year Valve was dragged into multiple lawsuits over their encouragement of illegal gambling activities?
Or when they implemented their refund policy after being sued and losing to the Australian Consumer Commission?

The refund policy came before they lost the case - and not to mention refunds were still possible prior to that, though hilariously convoluted as with pretty much every gaming service

Are we also forgetting the identical Skinner box philosophy involved in blizzard games - the same extent of "encouraging gambling" that is prevalent in gaming. Valves only difference is allowing customers to get rid of their purchased / dropped virtual items, a system that is massively useful far beyond the actors that build a business around bot usage for external gambling sites.

 

[Sarcasm]

Only Blizzards classic games like starcraft can be played without launcher (and those can't even be played with launcher, even if you want it)

Lame wonder when they changed.

 

[Yohane]

Does valve still take 30% of the dev revenue? If so being battle.net only makes a lot of sense

 

[Nzyme32]

Look at that Steam "monopoly" go!

Does valve still take 30% of the dev revenue? If so being battle.net only makes a lot of sense

Every company does that or more, it's an industry standard. The only way around that is to use your own service. This is the first Activision game to take this route.

 

[Fahzgoolin]

Blizzards client is quite capable and a smooth experience. I have no problem with this at all.

 

[Cytezan]

Why are people complaining about it being on BattleNet? The launcher is simple and quick and I've never had issues with it.

Confused by the hate...

 

[chillybright]

Wonder how they handle China market. Blizzard is huge there but they have to work with Net Ease, I guess Destiny 2 will follow the same route.
I think it will do well in Asia market thanks to Blizzard presence.

Blizzard China has same news article in Chinese about Destiny coming to battle.net. However there is no official statement on whether it will be released in China yet, nor is there any info on pricing etc.

 

[ChazGW7]

I'm very happy they are using the Blizzard Launcher for this, not everything has to be on Steam. The social experience is much more streamlined in comparison to Steams integrated offerings. People in this thread are acting like opening another launcher is an unbearable task to comprehend.

When its all digital, does it really matter where the game is stored? Like honestly? I have games only on Origin and Uplay, I don't understand why that has become an issue. Besides you can always add Destiny 2 as a 'Non-Steam Game' so its now on your Steam game list. Problem solved.

 

[texhnolyze]

I'm very happy they are using the Blizzard Launcher for this, not everything has to be on Steam. The social experience is much more streamlined in comparison to Steams integrated offerings. People in this thread are acting like opening another launcher is an unbearable task to comprehend.

When its all digital, does it really matter where the game is stored? Like honestly? I have games only on Origin and Uplay, I don't understand why that has become an issue. Besides you can always add Destiny 2 as a 'Non-Steam Game' so its now on your Steam game list. Problem solved.

Yup. Quoting myself from the Steam thread.

I for one couldn't care less about PC games releasing on other platforms than Steam.

I play various kinds of PC games from Steam, emulators, MMOs, etc. Limiting myself to Steam exclusivity would only give me unnecessary headache. In the end, I always put all of my games shortcut, even the Steam ones, on windows toolbar and launch the games from there anyway.

I'm not on my PC, but it looks something like this.

Simple, straightforward, and every game is only two clicks away from the desktop.

I never understand people's obsession on opening Steam client to play their games. You can still install all PC store clients, install their games, and launch their games from one single place of your choice without having to open those non-Steam clients again (they'll automatically open when you run the games or at Windows startup). Do people actually open Origin to play EA games or Uplay for Ubi games? What's the purpose of shortcuts then? You can also shortcut them to Steam if you want to.

It's such a non-issue.

 

[GhostTrick]

Yup. Quoting myself from the Steam thread.





I never understand people's obsession on opening Steam client to play their games. You can still install all PC store clients, install their games, and launch their games from one single place of your choice without having to open those non-Steam clients again (they'll automatically open when you run the games or at Windows startup). Do people actually open Origin to play EA games or Uplay for Ubi games? What's the purpose of shortcuts then? You can also shortcut them to Steam if you want to.

It's such a non-issue.

Managing everything from one place. The problem with Steam shortcuts is that while you can set them up properly, you don't have the guarantee of their staying, whenever you change your device or something.

 

[texhnolyze]

Managing everything from one place. The problem with Steam shortcuts is that while you can set them up properly, you don't have the guarantee of their staying, whenever you change your device or something.

I do manage them from one place, my Windows desktop. All I need to do is usually right click on the toolbar and sort them by name every time I add a new game to the toolbar. And every time I need to run a game after a Windows startup, all I need to do is click the Games toolbar and choose one. Game will run alongside its client/launcher/whatever it's required to run.

 

[GhostTrick]

I do manage them from one place, my Windows desktop. All I need to do is usually right click on the toolbar and sort them by name every time I add a new game to the toolbar. And every time I need to run a game after a Windows startup, all I need to do is click the Games toolbar and choose one. Game will run alongside its client/launcher/whatever it's required to run.

I mean, management that goes beyond launching your game. Then again, some people here loves to play with their controller.

 

[SmartWaffles]

Wonder how they handle China market. Blizzard is huge there but they have to work with Net Ease, I guess Destiny 2 will follow the same route.
I think it will do well in Asia market thanks to Blizzard presence.

NetEase has a press conference tomorrow showcasing their 2017 domestic lineup, we'll know by then. Plus Blizzard China posted a Chinese version of the Destiny 2 BNet FAQ IMMEDIATELY after the reveal on their social media, which is very, very suspicious.

 

[Vashetti]

So this is why I will not buy this game. I have 300+ games on Steam and I would like to keep everything there. Why not release on both? Stupid Activision.

 

[texhnolyze]

I mean, management that goes beyond launching your game. Then again, some people here loves to play with their controller.

But I do launch them with my DS4 touchpad.

I get what you mean, but most of the time, the only time I need to open the non-Steam clients is when I install the game. After that I never have to open it again, just run the game from shortcut. Patching is automatic anyway.

 

[Tecnniqe]

Yeah but it doesn't count the hours dude. My epeen and gamer skills won't show!!! Wouldn't someone think of the TRADING CARDS!?

 

[Mooreberg]

Overwatch built an FPS fan base on the platform, so this is a logical step. Lack of Steam friends list would have been aggravating a few years ago, but Discord pretty much takes care of that problem these days.

 

[madjoki]

Or when they implemented their refund policy after being sued and losing to the Australian Consumer Commission?

Valve hasn't lost just yet, since they've appealed decision and even then refunds predate it.
And I think refunds policy is good for consumers and it's telling no one has followed even two years later and I don't understand why anyone would think Valve giving refunds is bad.

I would be surprised if ACC did not go after others after they've won Valve, this included Blizzard.

Does valve still take 30% of the dev revenue? If so being battle.net only makes a lot of sense

Everybody takes 30% cut. For physical copies it's even higher, even before calculating potential losses due to resale on consoles.

Yet in most cases it makes sense to do physical copies. So making decisions just based on cut doesn't make sense.

In Destiny/BattleNet case, it might very well make sense though (in terms of profits).

Yeah but it doesn't count the hours dude. My epeen and gamer skills won't show!!! Wouldn't someone think of the TRADING CARDS!?

Well, Trading cards are serious business, has paid for just about every game I have bought since they were added including non-steam (Origin/uPlay) games.

 

[Sad Affleck]

Expected. Sooner or later I expect Call of Duty to follow suit. I wonder how Valve will react to heavy hitters skipping its service. Bethesda is sure to be the next one to bail.

 

[Sarcasm]

Only thing bummer is no regional pricing for me.

 

[madjoki]

Expected. Sooner or later I expect Call of Duty to follow suit. I wonder how Valve will react to heavy hitters skipping its service. Bethesda is sure to be the next one to bail.

Call of Duty isn't big on PC.

And last one's Windows Store version did very poorly.

 

[Zexen]

I want to know Blizz's true feelings about this announcement. Can't help but feel they don't want that shit mixed in with their games on their client.

I'm pretty sure they are more than happy with this considering the Battle.net wallet and how the supply/demand of WoW Tokens went through the roof in the last 12 hours (Europe at least).

 

[texhnolyze]

Only thing bummer is no regional pricing for me.

Yeah, if anything this is the only issue I have with games outside of Steam territory. However, lots of publishers are starting to abandon regional pricing nowadays anyway. So I doubt it'll have regional pricing even if it's on Steam. I'm waiting for a physical copy which is usually cheaper than digital over here (for games without regional pricing), like $10-$15 cheaper.

 

[Ganado]

There's no overlay in b.net. You can access your friend's list pretty quickly in any blizzard game. Also what the hell did you do to get banned from SC2 and WoW twice?

Trust me, I wanted to know too. Must've been a bug or something, but it was really absurd.

 

[Sarcasm]

Trust me, I wanted to know too. Must've been a bug or something, but it was really absurd.

In my experience using their chat system outside of WoW and D3..sucks. Mainly in heroes. What a paaaaiiiin.

Discord and steam chat regardless if we playing a blizzard game lol.

 

[Admodieus]

The more I talk to some friends and coworkers, the more I'm convinced this is a genius move. I play Heroes of the Storm and Overwatch with many of them, but they don't install Steam or really play non-Blizzard games - they're old WoW diehards who have now migrated to other Blizzard properties. Many of them saw the news about Destiny 2 in the Battle.net launcher and are excited to try it out since it "looks like WoW".

The normal, hardcore PC gaming crowd is going to buy Destiny 2 regardless. But by playing up the ties to Blizzard and using their client, they may be able to rope in more of a casual crowd than they would have otherwise.

 

[Budi]

Discussion here is surprisingly heated. From personal point of view, doesn't really matter that much to me what launcher Destiny will use. Since I'm not very interested in it. But Steam and Battle.net are both apps that are constantly running on my PC for the social functions. GOG and Uplay I'll only launch when needed to play a game. So I wouldn't mind it being on Battle.net if I was interested.

But I really don't understand how people can so adamantly say that Battle.net is better than Steam. And even that Steam has been dragging behind Bnet, with streaming and voice chat for example. Both were available in Steam first. Also downplaying all the extra features that Steam has since "Battle.net has all it needs" "Steam has too much bloat". That bloat doesn't interfere with basic functionality of installing and playing games. And just because you claim you don't personally need or want these extra features like free name change, it's still something that Steam is doing better. Personal preferences moved aside.

This is a great move by Activision Blizzard, makes perfect sense.

 

[AppleSeason]

I'm surprised at the hatred by both Blizzard and Steam fans. ones don't want it there, others want it in their home.

I would like being able to hide icons in the battle.net launcher, though. Specially when this game, despite liking it, feels like a green slug living inside an ant colony.

 

[Admodieus]

Discussion here is surprisingly heated. From personal point of view, doesn't really matter that much to me what launcher Destiny will use. Since I'm not very interested in it. But Steam and Battle.net are both apps that are constantly running on my PC for the social functions. GOG and Uplay I'll only launch when needed to play a game. So I wouldn't mind it being on Battle.net if I was interested.

But I really don't understand how people can so adamantly say that Battle.net is better than Steam. And even that Steam has been dragging behind Bnet, with streaming and voice chat for example. Both were available in Steam first. Also downplaying all the extra features that Steam has since "Battle.net has all it needs" "Steam has too much bloat". That bloat doesn't interfere with basic functionality of installing and playing games. And just because you claim you don't personally need or want these extra features like free name change, it's still something that Steam is doing better. Personal preferences moved aside.

This is a great move by Activision Blizzard, makes perfect sense.

Having a feature first does not mean that the implementation of that feature is better.

I use Blizzard Party Chat all the time with friends. I never use Steam voice chat through their friends functionality. I also see people frequently post Overwatch streams to Facebook through Battle.net.

 

[Goldenhen]

Just be glad it wasn't exclusive to Windows Store.

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

Steam having competition is in Steams own best interest. We've seen it time and time again how having one service or product having too much of the market reduces its creativity, output and quality.

Origin and Battle.net and Uplay having titles that compete with Steam is ultimately healthy. Steam needs to be inspired to want to be improved.


It's not that people don't feel a knee jerk having to have multiple store fronts across their game library, but I think it's preferable to one storefront having a monopoly.

 

[wapplew]

NetEase has a press conference tomorrow showcasing their 2017 domestic lineup, we'll know by then. Plus Blizzard China posted a Chinese version of the Destiny 2 BNet FAQ IMMEDIATELY after the reveal on their social media, which is very, very suspicious.

Oh, bnet exclusive make too much sense now. They'll do better on bnet in China and Asia overall compare to steam.

 

[10k]

Kind of surprised Activision hasn't put CoD on Battle.Net yet. It's a smaller user base maybe but not having to give valve a 30% cut could make up for it.

 

[Budi]

Having a feature first does not mean that the implementation of that feature is better.

I use Blizzard Party Chat all the time with friends. I never use Steam voice chat through their friends functionality. I also see people frequently post Overwatch streams to Facebook through Battle.net.

Yeah I use Mumble for voice chat, I find it to be better than either by Valve or Blizzard. And that isn't restricted to a game client so that makes it easier too.

 

[Raylan Targaryen]

Kind of surprised Activision hasn't put CoD on Battle.Net yet. It's a smaller user base maybe but not having to give valve a 30% cut could make up for it.

No one is going to play CoD on PC so it's pointless. With Destiny it works because it's the first time its coming to PC and it's an anticipated title. Sure there are the Valve fanboys that would rather kill their own parents than use a non-Steam client, but Destiny is still going to do well.