After 20 years of being synonymous with Blizzard, Battle.net was put on notice last year. Blizzard decided that the name created confusion, and that going forward, all products, including the Battle.net platform, would use the Blizzard name instead. Fast forward another year and we’re facing another change. Battle.net isn’t going anywhere.
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In 1996, when Blizzard conceived Battle.net, they wanted to give it a distinctive name. Juggling multiple names, however, caused a spot of occasional confusion, and in September it was decided that the name would be phased out. And then shock! It turns out that changing the name of a 20-year-old platform also caused some confusion.
“Battle.net is the central nervous system for Blizzard games and the connective tissue that has brought Blizzard players together since 1996,” Blizzard explained in an update. “The technology was never going away, but after giving the branding change further consideration and also hearing your feedback, we’re in agreement that the name should stay as well. Take it from the developer formerly known as Silicon & Synapse, and Chaos Studios, names are important too.”
So the name Battle.net is sticking around, sort of. But the studio still wants to add clarity by making it more of a mouthful. Moving forward, they say, the service will be known as ‘Blizzard Battle.net’. All the boxes are ticked, then, apart from not exactly rolling off the tongue.