For those wondering how to launch Diablo II: Resurrected from Steam, this guide is for you.
Before we get into it though, lets address the question of why we might want to use Steam to launch D2R. The obvious reason would be to have access to the Steam Overlay while in game. Which can be especially helpful when using the Steam Chat system for party chat, but it also gives you access to other Steam Overlay features such as capturing screenshots. Launching D2R from Steam will also update your Steam status to show that you are currently in game.
Launchers
Normally, the process for adding a non-Steam game to your Steam Library is as simple as locating the game's executable. However, this differs a bit when adding games that are also tied to Blizzard's Battle.net Launcher.
Like other Blizzard games, D2R requires the Battle.net Launcher to run. And for the Steam overlay to work properly with the game, it has to hook into the Battle.net Launcher. This means that D2R has a two-step launch process when being launched from Steam: (1) press Play to launch from Steam, then (2) press Play to launch D2R from the Battle.net Launcher.
Note that in order to release Steam from the in-game state after exiting D2R, you also have to exit out of the Battle.net Launcher.
Adding a Non-Steam Game
From your Steam Library, select Add a Game from the lower left corner of the window. Then select Add a Non-Steam Game... to open the Add Non-Steam Game window prompt.
Enter "Diablo II" into the search field to locate the Diablo II Resurrected Launcher. If it doesn't appear in the list, select Browse... to locate and add the path to the list of programs.
Then select the checkbox for the Diablo II Resurrected Launcher, and select Add Selected Programs.
Inspecting Properties
With the D2R Launcher added to your Steam Library, you should be all set. However, you may want to take a moment to inspect the properties for the game, and make any changes you like. Personally, I opted to remove "Launcher" from the shortcut name to shorten it a bit.
To open the Properties window, right-click on the game and select Properties... from the dropdown menu. From there you can view Shortcut and Controller properties.
Polishing Touches
The lack of artwork can make non-Steam games appear unsightly when first added to your Steam Library. Thankfully, Steam provides us with the tools to remedy this. To beautify your Steam Library experience, there are four types of artwork that you'll need to provide:
- Portrait Grid Artwork
- Landscape Grid Artwork
- Game Page Background, or Hero Art
- Game Page Logo
All of which can be found at SteamGridDB - Diablo II: Resurrected (2021).
Note that some artworks on SteamGridDB are provided as animations in WebP file format. However, the Steam Library only supports JPEG and PNG image formats. Although you can get around this limitation by simply changing the file extension. Which can be done by either renaming the file and replacing ".webp" with the ".png" extension, or select the option to "download with the .png file extension" when downloading from SteamGridDB.
Grid Artworks
To set custom artwork in the Steam Library grid layout, first right-click on the game. Then select Manage > Set custom artwork from the dropdown menu.
This process will need to be repeated for both portrait and landscape grid artworks. Landscape artworks are displayed with your most recent played game under the Recent Games shelf.
Game Page Artworks
To set custom artwork for the Steam Library game page, first select the game to open the game page, and right-click in the header section of the page to open a dropdown menu.
Select Set Custom Background and Set Custom Logo from the dropdown menu to set the background and logo respectively. Setting a custom logo replaces the title text in the header of the game page.
The position of the logo can also be adjusted. The option to do so appears in the dropdown menu after the custom logo has been set.
Closing Thoughts
There's a lot of really good artwork out there for D2R, with some great alternates in addition to the official box art. Note that the SteamGridDB D2R home page shows top selections from each section, which tends to have a good rate of turn over. You can find more by navigating between sections (grids, heroes, logos, and icons) using the tabs at the top of the page.
Be sure to check out each section of the SteamGridDB page, and have fun with it. As always, be kind to yourself, be kind to others, and game on!
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