Overwatch 2 from Blizzard has now launched on Steam and thanks to that, it's super simple to get it working on Steam Deck and desktop Linux. Although Steam Deck players will want to change the Proton version.
Valve updated Proton Experimental back on July 8th, which included a fix for "Overwatch 2 stopping to register controller inputs after an online match has started". So a big problem on Steam Deck but not so much if you're using a mouse on desktop Linux but for best experience right now just switch to Proton Experimental.
When loading for the first time, you will be greeted by the below screen since you do need a Battle.Net account. No fuss though, entering the code into a browser, and it will then link up with your Steam account. Absolutely no issue there, and no need for Battle.Net itself. Much cleaner than how some others are doing it like EA, Ubisoft and others.
Once you link up an account, Blizzard note you cannot link a different Steam account for 1 year.
Until Valve builds up a shader cache and has it ready to download though, expect to see plenty of stuttering which Overwatch 2 has been notorious for in the past with Proton / Wine. After a little while of playing, it will get a lot smoother on Steam Deck and desktop Linux.
Two shots of it running great on Steam Deck on Medium Graphics Preset (click them to enlarge):
Running just as expected on desktop Linux too (Kubuntu 23.04) on Ultra Graphics Preset:
Not a whole lot extra to say really. It's not a new game, it's technically been out and playable on both desktop Linux and Steam Deck by just using the Battle.Net launcher with Wine or directly inside Steam with Proton. It works the same as before, it's just a lot easier now.
Interestingly, the user reviews on Steam are not looking good for it. Very quickly after release it hit a Mostly Negative score. Players haven't been happy with Overwatch 2 for some time now so that's not really a big surprise considering how Blizzard handled it with cutting planned content.
Find Overwatch 2 free to play on Steam.
Their new trailer is below:
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19 comments
I'm not shocked Overwatch 2 is being raked over the coals, people have been pissed for a while now.
2 Likes, Who?
I'm sad that it's getting review bombed so hard, I genuinely think it's a good game, and this new update is awesome. I especially don't get why people are STILL mad about PvE, like it's literally there now, they added it
3 Likes, Who?
..but not so much if you're using a mouse on desktop LinuxActually, Proton experimental fixed a bug where the mouse wasn't being "grabbed" at the start of match (or after respawning). You would have to alt-tab out/in again to fix it.
0 Likes
Haven't played a Blizzard game in a decade and a half but curiosity (and the price of free) got the better of me. Runs well and haven't seen any stutter (probably due to Mesa's GPL) and the couple of matches I played were engaging enough. I could see myself casually playing this from time to time, especially with friends. That said, I'm too old and my free time is too much of a premium to ever care about battle passes and seasons or, for that matter, heroes, skins, and all that other shiny stuff 
Last edited by BTRE on 11 August 2023 at 12:58 am UTC
Last edited by BTRE on 11 August 2023 at 12:58 am UTC
8 Likes, Who?
I'm sad that it's getting review bombed so hard, I genuinely think it's a good game, and this new update is awesome. I especially don't get why people are STILL mad about PvE, like it's literally there now, they added it
I am too. It's a genuinely great Steam release with nothing that makes it a hassle to run. Overwatch 2 is also a great game. Some of the Steam reviews are embarrassing, making sickening rape jokes and are just a general toxic cesspit. Valve really needs to strap on some Hazmat suits and clean up their community.
3 Likes, Who?
I never take part in review bombings, and like in other games, I didn't reviewed this one either.
With that said, I can't in good faith recommend this game. I'm not gonna talk about the rape jokes and all the other cesspool comments, but still, it's undeniable that the game is being managed awfully by Blizzard.
Not only the cut content and how they acted about it, but battle passes with characters locked behind it (or behind paywalls), 20$ skins, 15$ coop missions... I don't feel like the game nor the company deserve my time or money.
With that said, I can't in good faith recommend this game. I'm not gonna talk about the rape jokes and all the other cesspool comments, but still, it's undeniable that the game is being managed awfully by Blizzard.
Not only the cut content and how they acted about it, but battle passes with characters locked behind it (or behind paywalls), 20$ skins, 15$ coop missions... I don't feel like the game nor the company deserve my time or money.
6 Likes, Who?
REVIEW TYPE
All (14,775)
Positive (3,016)
Negative (11,759)
buahahahahaha
All (14,775)
Positive (3,016)
Negative (11,759)
buahahahahaha
1 Likes, Who?
I really do dislike the way how Steam users are reacting to the release, I hope we won't get a response from the Microsoft/Blizzard about Steam being a bad practice and no more games.
Don't care about the Overwatch tbh, at least there is no launcher required to play.
Don't care about the Overwatch tbh, at least there is no launcher required to play.
4 Likes, Who?
Hats off to Blizzard for making the integration so smooth. I didn't even realise there will buch such screen, since I connected the two accounts in advance.
Honestly, EA has allowed connecting their account on Stadia and prolly does the same for console games. But on PC we get all those funky launchers. What's the point?
That aside, I'm super happy to have OW2 on Steam. Bottles are great, but there's nothing better than installing it directly. Also I feel like I'm getting better performance while using the same GE-Proton. 4K High - 300+ FPS. Freaking amazing.
As for shader compilation: I remember having such issues couple of years back, waiting couple of minutes for this to finish and game be playable. But now, even if there's initial or ongoing compilation I see no drops or issues.
Honestly, EA has allowed connecting their account on Stadia and prolly does the same for console games. But on PC we get all those funky launchers. What's the point?
That aside, I'm super happy to have OW2 on Steam. Bottles are great, but there's nothing better than installing it directly. Also I feel like I'm getting better performance while using the same GE-Proton. 4K High - 300+ FPS. Freaking amazing.
As for shader compilation: I remember having such issues couple of years back, waiting couple of minutes for this to finish and game be playable. But now, even if there's initial or ongoing compilation I see no drops or issues.
4 Likes, Who?
Some of the Steam reviews are embarrassing, making sickening rape jokes and are just a general toxic cesspit. Valve really needs to strap on some Hazmat suits and clean up their community.
I'm not gonna talk about the rape jokes and all the other cesspool comments, but still, it's undeniable that the game is being managed awfully by Blizzard.
WTF!?
What the hell is wrong with people!?
Gotta stay away from Steam Reviews sections.
3 Likes, Who?
Holzkohlen Aug 11, 2023
Now I wish they would put League of Legends on steam. I am curious about what the reviews would look like.
I don't really care about Overwatch tbh. Played it a bit a few months ago, but I just can't get into shooters anymore.
Last edited by Holzkohlen on 11 August 2023 at 12:35 pm UTC
I don't really care about Overwatch tbh. Played it a bit a few months ago, but I just can't get into shooters anymore.
Last edited by Holzkohlen on 11 August 2023 at 12:35 pm UTC
0 Likes
Some of the Steam reviews are embarrassing, making sickening rape jokes and are just a general toxic cesspit. Valve really needs to strap on some Hazmat suits and clean up their community.I'm not gonna talk about the rape jokes and all the other cesspool comments, but still, it's undeniable that the game is being managed awfully by Blizzard.
WTF!?
What the hell is wrong with people!?
Gotta stay away from Steam Reviews sections.
Whenever I see a game being review bombed, I tend to stay away from the review section and look elsewhere to make a judgement about it. But to be honest, it's the same everywhere else. If you go check metacritic reviews on somewhat polemic games you'll find the same cesspit.
To me, it's not "Steam community". It's just internet being internet. Give someone the chance to speak "anonymously" and you'll find the true self of them. And sadly, there's a lot of awful people around (although there's also a good bunch of nice people, not everything is so bad as it looks).
2 Likes, Who?
2bithacker Aug 11, 2023
I especially don't get why people are STILL mad about PvE, like it's literally there now, they added it
As I understand it, early on in OW2 development they showed off a whole PvE progression system with hero abilities and skill trees and whatnot, and all that got stripped out of what they eventually delivered, so people are still grumpy about that.
3 Likes, Who?
I really do dislike the way how Steam users are reacting to the release, I hope we won't get a response from the Microsoft/Blizzard about Steam being a bad practice and no more games.
Don't care about the Overwatch tbh, at least there is no launcher required to play.
Neither Origin or Battle.net support any kind of review as far as i know.
Not sure if the Epic game launcher supports it now , but don't really care about them.
Even if the people are taking the piss now it's good steam has the feature so people can voice discontent.
Microsoft and Blizzard are the least people we should worry about pleasing in the gaming sector.
7 Likes, Who?
Overwatch deserves all the criticism it gets. I'm surprised how supporters of an open platform like Linux seem to be the least appalled by a company shutting down a game people paid money for, breaking all the promises they made about keeping the game fair for the future and replacing it with a "micro"transaction, pay-2-win hellhole that doesn't even have the PvE campaign that was supposed to be the entire reason for the appended "2" in the title.
It's an all-around disgusting release.
It's an all-around disgusting release.
3 Likes, Who?
sir-wallaby Aug 14, 2023
I am happy they decided to release on Steam. I also have been enjoying the game overall. Objectively, the seasonal model has added way more content versus the last 3 years of OW1.
0 Likes
Overwatch deserves all the criticism it gets. I'm surprised how supporters of an open platform like Linux seem to be the least appalled by a company shutting down a game people paid money for, breaking all the promises they made about keeping the game fair for the future and replacing it with a "micro"transaction, pay-2-win hellhole that doesn't even have the PvE campaign that was supposed to be the entire reason for the appended "2" in the title.
It's an all-around disgusting release.
The game is literally just an update to Overwatch, they didn't shut down anything, they just made it free. Rocket League went free. PUBG went free. Are you mad about those too?
The game isn't pay to win because you can unlock every character for free.
The PvE was literally just added and it's good.
The only thing I can understand being mad about is the removal of lootboxes, but really? We actually want them in our games now ? Remember that Apex Legends locks some cosmetics behind $500 worth of lootboxes. Battle passes and $20 skins suck, but id rather have that than developing a gambling addiction over the tiny chance that a lootbox will give me something I actually want, when I know that 99.99% of the time I'll get something i don't care about.
0 Likes
The game is literally just an update to Overwatch, they didn't shut down anything, they just made it free.
No, they didn't. They removed content, they reduced the team size, they changed a lot of core things. "It's just an update" is like lying with terminology in circumstances like this. I purchased Overwatch 1, which has now been molded into something I never wanted. To say "it's just an update" completely misses the point.
Rocket League went free. PUBG went free. Are you mad about those too?
First of all, I don't have to be mad about games I don't play, so PUBG is out. I wouldn't have to address whataboutism at all but I'll humor you: As for Rocket League, no, I'm not mad, because the core game was never altered. Even if it was, it is not an always-online game like Overwatch. If I want I can just download any old version of it from Steam using its depot download functionality and play that, even online with friends using its LAN mode. The game is preserved, unlike Overwatch.
The game isn't pay to win because you can unlock every character for free.
That's a BS excuse. EA tried to use the same logic with Star Wars Battlefront. It doesn't work. If a game puts you at a disadvantage unless you pay up, it is by definition pay-to-win. That you can as an alternative grind until you are no longer at a disadvantage doesn't change anything about that fact. For one thing, you're technically paying with your time, and secondly you have to play the game to do so, meaning you are at a disadvantage during that duration anyway.
The PvE was literally just added and it's good.
It's pretty bad, but that's subjective. Hardly even a shadow of what it was meant to be, and a shameless cash grab.
The only thing I can understand being mad about is the removal of lootboxes, but really? We actually want them in our games now ?
I don't mind them anywhere near as much as the FOMO Battle Passes. Those are the ultimate cancer. Yeah sure I can pay two fiddy and get a random item, but at least I get >some< thing and I can always get it later and also through other means. With Battle Passes I have to hope I have enough time to play or I get nothing or just less even though I paid the same as everyone else. And you feel compelled to play when you don't feel like it just so you don't lose out on your purchase and cosmetics that may never return. It's such utter garbage.
Remember that Apex Legends locks some cosmetics behind $500 worth of lootboxes.
But Overwatch wasn't Apex Legends.
1 Likes, Who?
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