Call of Duty artwork has been spotted on Steam, which some are taking to be a sign that the franchise might make its way back to Valve’s platform at some point in the future.
CharlieIntel spotted Modern Warfare 2 artwork on Steam recently. The page containing the artwork has now seemingly been updated to remove the Modern Warfare 2 imagery, but you can see it below.
It’s possible this was a mistake, or it might be that Activision intends to bring the series back to Steam. 2018’s Black Ops 4 skipped a release on Steam in favor of Activision Blizzard’s own Battle.net, with ever following entry also bypassing Valve’s PC store. Earlier entries in the series, however, remain available for purchase on Steam.
Valve charges a platform fee whereas Battle.net is owned by Activision Blizzard, which might explain the decision by Activision Blizzard to stop releasing Call of Duty games on Steam. Another big company, Ubisoft, stopped releasing games on Steam because of Valve’s business model.
GameSpot has contacted Activision in an attempt to get more details. Even if Call of Duty does return to Steam, it’s possible players will still need to log in via Battle.net to play, as PC Gamer reminds us.
Modern Warfare 2 launches on October 28 for PC and consoles. It’s developed by Infinity Ward and is rumored to be focused, at least in part, on Colombian drug cartels. Leaks have suggested that a beta is in the works, too, with PlayStation users getting in first.
Microsoft is in the process of purchasing Activision Blizzard–including the Call of Duty franchise and all of its developers–but the series will continue to be released on PlayStation in the future. In a big shift, Activision will reportedly not release a new Call of Duty game in 2023.
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