Blizzard Backtracks, Renames Launcher Blizzard Battle.net
Earlier this year, Blizzard announced that they would be retiring the Battle.net brand. The company claimed that "there’s been occasional confusion and inefficiencies related to having two separate identities under which everything falls—Blizzard and Battle.net."
The renamed launcher was titled Blizzard App. The move was met with indifference by new players and derision by old fans. In the end, the vets won out. Blizzard made an official announcement today that it had reconsidered the name change. It has decided to backtrack and bring back the Battle.net branding. The new launcher will be called: Blizzard Battle.net
While fan feed back and pride in the studio's history were given as the main reasons for the back paddle, the true reason is likely corporate related. When Blizzard originally ditched the Battle.net name, their launcher exclusively served Blizzard titles. Blizzard games on the Blizzard launcher. Makes sense. But with the announcement that Destiny 2 would be hosted on the Blizzard launcher, things changed. Destiny 2 is not a Blizzard game.
My guess is the Battle.net label was pulled out of retirement to better reflect the fact that the the company intends to host other non-Blizzard games going forward. Call of Duty is another huge franchise within the Activision Blizzard family that could very well see a Battle.net release. Whether third party games will ever be hosted remains an open question.
