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Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Dumps Steam, Joins Overwatch on Battle.net

Don't go looking for Black Ops 4 on Steam, because the latest Call of Duty PC experience will be a Battle.net exclusive.

Kevin Tucker

May 17, 2018 4:30 PM

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The Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 reveal presentation that broadcasted live earlier today gave players an early glimpse at what Treyarch has been cooking up, and so far things are looking good. The game includes a number of different zombies modes, and fans will note the inclusion of eight new specialists that will radically shake up the standard multiplayer combat formula. In addition to all this, the presenters also offered up an interesting new detail: Black Ops 4 will not be on Steam, but will instead join the likes of Overwatch over on Blizzard's Battle.net.

This may come as a surprise to some PC players and Steam stalwarts, but Activision and Treyarch have assured fans that Battle.net will provide an exceptional experience. This includes full integration of social features, chat, friends lists, everything else players have come to expect from Battle.net and the Call of Duty brand so far.

In addition, the PC version will also feature not only dedicated server support, but graphics capabilities that support 4K resolutions, high dynamic range, and ultrawide monitors, all with uncapped framerates. According to Blizzard's Jeff Kaplan, the marriage of Black Ops 4 and Battle.net should make for an incredible combination.

"Those of us at Blizzard have been friends with Treyarch for many, many years. When it came to working on Overwatch, we consulted with Treyarch on a number of features," Kaplan said. "With all the features of Battle.net, I think it's going to be pretty amazing what Black Ops 4 is going to have to offer."

All in all, the experience should be familiar and convenient enough for all players — but again, Black Ops 4 will not be releasing on Steam. On the upside, Black Ops 4 will be the first Call of Duty game to land on Blizzard's platform, and if the situation is well-received by the players, it likely won't be the last.

Kevin Tucker

Guides Editor

Kevin Tucker is a core component of Shacknews' powerful guide development team. For questions, concerns, tips, or to share constructive criticism, he can be reached on Twitter @dukeofgnar or through e-mail at kevin.tucker@shacknews.com.