Blizzard Entertainment has been around for decades and over the years there have been two sections that most gamers could identify with, the company name Blizzard and their online video game service, Battle.net. Now that online multiplayer is the norm and often an expectation for several video games releasing into the market, Blizzard is hoping to drop some confusion for gamers who might have been around during the early years of Battle.net.
In a new post made on the World of Warcraft website, Blizzard made the announcement of losing the Battle.net name for their gaming service. Instead, the services from now on will be known as Blizzard Tech.
Blizzard goes on to explain the reasoning behind naming Battle.net in the first place and how over time the name and idea for online multiplayer went from a concept to normal expectations for video game releases.
“We’re going to be transitioning away from using the Battle.net name for our gaming service and the functionality connected to it. Battle.net technology will continue to serve as the central nervous system for Blizzard games—nothing is changing in that regard. We’ll just be referring to our various products and services using the Blizzard name instead. You’ve already seen this recently with things like “Blizzard Streaming” and “Blizzard Voice,” and more changes are on the way.
When we created Battle.net, the idea of including a tailored online-gaming service together with your game was more of a novel concept, so we put a lot of focus on explaining what the service was and how it worked, including giving it a distinct name. 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 are 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.
We just wanted to make sure everyone was aware as we moved forward with this change over the next several months; we’ll provide any relevant updates as the transition progresses.”
While the name may be changing, the overall system is still very much intact and stable. Gamers can continue on playing their favorite Blizzard titles as normal.
