Blizzard Is Retiring The Name "Battle.net"

Blizzard Entertainment announced today that they're retiring the name "Battle.net" and will return to their services with the preface Blizzard instead, e.g. "Blizzard Voice." Don't worry, the technology behind Battle.net will still be used. The reasoning for the chance is simple: Blizzard doesn't want to cause any confusion.

Over time, though, we’ve seen that there’s been occasional confusion and inefficiencies related to having two separate identities under which everything falls—Blizzard and Battle.net. Given that built-in multiplayer support is a well-understood concept and more of a normal expectation these days, there isn’t as much of a need to maintain a separate identity for what is essentially our networking technology.

Battle.net has been around for quite a while, launching on November 30, 1996 alongside Diablo. It was the first online service that was integrated with the games it supported, changing the playing field and leading many other companies to follow suit. While the name is retiring, the core of Battle.net lives on. We salute you "Battle.net."