Oof: Years before Steam, a Blizzard engineer wanted to turn Battle.net into a third-party game store, but was reportedly turned down

The world of immediately is the results of each choice and accident that led to it, which is a disconcerting thought given what number of issues it is attainable to virtually do in a lifetime. Living proof, in response to a brand new ebook on the historical past of Blizzard, the Warcraft studio rejected a proposal to show Battle.internet right into a third-party sport retailer years earlier than Steam launched.

It simply launched immediately, however we have already realized some fascinating stuff from the ebook, Play Good: The Rise, Fall, and Future Of Blizzard Leisure by long-time video games trade reporter Jason Schreier. Blizzard could also be making an attempt as soon as once more to make a StarCraft shooter, and has reportedly rejected a number of proposals for brand spanking new RTSes.

Making an costly new RTS does appear dangerous, so I get it, however previous rejections positive can sting in hindsight. Schreier stories within the ebook that round 2000, former Blizzard programmer Patrick Wyatt pitched the corporate on a plan “to show Battle.internet right into a digital retailer for quite a lot of PC video games.”

The thought was supported by Mike O’Brien, the engineer who first pitched and constructed Battle.internet as a free on-line multiplayer service for Blizzard’s video games, however was rejected by the corporate’s management. In 2003, Valve launched Steam as a option to ship Counter-Strike updates, after which controversially required Half-Life 2 gamers to make use of the platform. It is now the most well-liked PC sport retailer by far, and after holding out for a very long time, Blizzard lastly began releasing its video games on Steam simply final 12 months.

Battle.internet stays a PC gaming establishment whilst a platform only for Blizzard and Activision video games, and who is aware of if it might’ve taken off like Steam had Blizzard pursued Wyatt’s thought. But when it had labored out, how totally different would PC gaming be immediately? Blizzard may by no means have merged with Activision, for one factor.

For quite a lot of causes detailed in Schreier’s ebook—together with a disagreement over the course of Warcraft 3—O’Brien, Wyatt, and a 3rd Blizzard programmer, Jeff Pressure, left the corporate in 2000 to discovered Guild Wars developer ArenaNet. In order that they did fairly effectively for themselves within the timeline the place Blizzard did not launch a Steam competitor earlier than Steam, and though it is not excellent, Steam might be quite a bit worse—possibly we ended up on the higher aspect of the causal break up?

Play Good: The Rise, Fall, and Future Of Blizzard Leisure is obtainable now from writer Hachette E book Group. Schreier started engaged on the ebook in 2021, and says that 350 interviews went into its making.