Battle.net’s CD Projekt Red Partnership Is Expanding the Storefront Without Turning It Into Steam

Battle.net is widening its catalog through a high-profile, tightly defined partnership with CD Projekt Red. The plan brings a small set of major RPG releases to Blizzard’s launcher and ties them to Diablo IV and Overwatch crossover content. That is meaningfully different from building an open, general-purpose PC marketplace designed to compete catalog-for-catalog with Steam or Epic. 47

The CD Projekt Red games coming to Battle.net

The rollout starts with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered, due on September 29, 2026. The Battle.net release includes the existing Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine expansions, alongside the remaster’s visual and gameplay improvements. 7

Songs of the Past, the newly announced Witcher expansion, is scheduled to come to Battle.net in 2027. Blizzard’s announcement says the remaster can be pre-purchased and the expansion can be wishlisted. 7

CD Projekt Red has also confirmed that the following will arrive on Battle.net later in 2026, without announcing a precise release date:

• Cyberpunk 2077
• Phantom Liberty
• Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition 33

That lineup gives Battle.net two recognizable, audience-compatible RPG franchises rather than a broad flood of unrelated releases.

The crossovers make the storefront release feel like an event

The agreement is not limited to selling games through a new launcher. It also connects CDPR’s worlds with Blizzard games.

Players who pre-purchase or buy Songs of the Past on Battle.net will receive a Geralt-themed cosmetic skin in Diablo IV. The offer is not limited to early purchasers: Blizzard says the cosmetic is available to players who buy the expansion after launch as well. 710

An Overwatch collaboration based on Cyberpunk: Edgerunners has also been announced. Reporting from the BlizzCon presentation says artwork confirmed cosmetics connected to David from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and Talia from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2, although the specific Overwatch heroes and the full item lineup have not been revealed. 41 Coverage of the announcement places the collaboration in 2027. 36

Why The Witcher release is a notable change for Battle.net

Battle.net has historically centered on Blizzard games, with additional catalog breadth coming largely through Activision and Microsoft’s corporate ownership. Microsoft completed its acquisition of Activision Blizzard on October 13, 2023, gaining control of franchises including Call of Duty, Diablo, Overwatch, and StarCraft. 1724

The CD Projekt Red agreement is different because CDPR is an outside commercial partner. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered was described in coverage of the announcement as the first independent third-party title to reach the storefront, making it a more visible test of externally published games on Battle.net. 2

Why this does not look like an open marketplace strategy

The available announcements point to a curated model: handpicked games that fit the audiences already using Battle.net for Diablo, World of Warcraft, and Overwatch, plus collaborations that create a reason to buy those releases on this particular storefront. Reporting has characterized Blizzard’s position as selective rather than an open-door policy for publishers. 4

An open marketplace would be a much larger operational commitment. It would require Blizzard to support publisher onboarding, developer and update workflows, worldwide payments and refunds, regional compliance, fraud prevention, customer service, content review, discovery, and moderation across a vastly larger catalogue. It would also need to persuade both publishers and players to adopt another launcher.

A partnership model avoids much of that complexity. Blizzard can focus on a few major releases, connect them to its own live games, and preserve Battle.net as a destination with a distinct identity rather than an undifferentiated game catalog.

What players should expect next

For now, the announced schedule is straightforward:

• September 29, 2026: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered, including Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, launches on Battle.net. 7
• Later in 2026: Cyberpunk 2077, Phantom Liberty, and the Ultimate Edition arrive on Battle.net; no exact date has been announced. 33
• 2027: Songs of the Past comes to Battle.net, alongside the announced Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Overwatch collaboration. 736

The bigger signal is strategic rather than numerical: Battle.net is becoming more open to carefully chosen external partners, but the CDPR deal does not establish that Blizzard is building a broad Steam- or Epic-style marketplace.