A staple from my coming of age years included many, many hours logged into Blizzard’s online multiplayer service, Battle.net. Naturally, when the company announced they were dropping that name I held so dearly from my past for something nowhere near as catchy, I was sad at best.
Now, the service has been updated to version 1.8.0, officially rebranding it to simply the “Blizzard App.” This means Battle.net is officially gone and the transition to a cohesive, Blizzard-themed brand is complete, as this was effectively the last remaining piece of the company’s pre-Activision merger.
The only real noticeable differences to the program itself is the removal of the Battle.net logo (featured in the top left of the app, and above) with the modern Blizzard logo, alongside a new “What’s New” message, saying: “We’ve given the App a small makeover to make you feel more at home in the Blizzard universe. Remember, together we are strong!”
Regarding the rebranding of the service, Blizzard previously said that over time “there’s been occasional confusion and inefficiencies related to having two separate identities under which everything falls—Blizzard and Battle.net.” Coming from this, they opted to drop the iconic name, putting everything under the Blizzard brand umbrella.
Battle.net launched over 20 years ago in 1996, alongside the original Diablo, and seven years before Steam even launched. It was known for frivolous things like easy joining of online games, chatting with other players, and regular support from Blizzard. Originally, all of Battle.net ran on a single PC.
Battle.net was updated to a new 2.0 version back in 2009, with more modern features and improved support for StarCraft II, Diablo III and World of Warcraft. The original Battle.net supporting legacy games like StarCraft, Diablo II, and Warcraft III was then renamed Battle.net Classic.
My take: It’s never going to be the same, loading up the newly announced StarCraft Remastered, only to play online via the Blizzard App, and not the Battle.net I so fondly remember over the years.
How many of you have memories playing on Battle.net, years ago or more recently? Sound off in the comments below!
Madbrainbox
March 26, 2017 at 4:13 pmI wonder if they wanted the most bland and boring name.Congratulations if that’s the case.Blizzard app sounds ridiculous.
Brandon Orselli
March 26, 2017 at 4:15 pmSo sad…. such a dumb move…
Fenrir007
March 26, 2017 at 4:21 pmI cannot understand this business decision at all. It really doesn’t make sense.
Guest
March 26, 2017 at 4:31 pmAnyone else loathe the word ‘app’?
blackice85
March 26, 2017 at 4:37 pmNot my favorite, but it bothered me less when it was restricted to actual apps, which originally meant mobile and/or lightweight applications, as opposed to desktop applications.
Bashtarle
March 26, 2017 at 4:38 pmI for one welcome our new Verbal Conflict Resolution Net overloads :/
srsly tho what was wrong with Battle Net ?
Mr0303
March 26, 2017 at 4:47 pm“Blizzard app” sounds so generic. At least Battle.net has a historical power behind it.
Neojames82
March 26, 2017 at 5:01 pmMost pointless name change in the history of gaming…
Ending a great era of gaming as well…
AnarKreig
March 26, 2017 at 5:09 pmI understand why they did it, and in the long run it will have been the smart move. But it’s just another sign of nu-Blizzard that are incapable of putting their soul into the game again.
BubbaHoTep
March 26, 2017 at 5:09 pmBlizzard App sounds gross for some reason.
giygas
March 26, 2017 at 6:27 pmSnowflake App
Frisky ? Jester
March 26, 2017 at 7:21 pmOk they’re just changing the name, the title of the article threw me off when i saw it on twitter
Morlab
March 26, 2017 at 8:19 pmI can’t wait until some horrible domain squatter grabs battle.net and kills all dreams.
Adohleas
March 26, 2017 at 10:00 pmThat is one of the dumbest names I have ever heard. Did they really think people would love the name change?
Miguel Angel Opazo Arancibia
March 26, 2017 at 10:18 pmThis is awfully retarded. Battle.net was enough.
It’s like Valve renaming Steam, “Valve app” to avoid “confusion” ? WTF
Jumanji Joe
March 27, 2017 at 3:20 amWhenever I heard battle.net I’d think of Diablo 2 and Star Craft. When I hear blizzard app I think of Star Crap 2 and Moba Watch, I vomit in my mouth.
Олександр Баб`як
March 27, 2017 at 4:09 am“Blizzard app” sounds like something hipsters or normies would come up with.
Nambu
March 27, 2017 at 9:29 pmMy shortcut is still Battle.net, and i don’t think i will ever change it.
Rob van der Linde
April 14, 2017 at 5:16 pmI don’t like the new name at all, with all the facebook support being added in lately and renaming it to “blizzard app” it sounds like they are just trying to cater for the millennials, where “app” is a buzzword used way too often these days, on tablets, phones, ios/windows app store, facebook, it’s everywhere.
Battle.net had a much better ring to it, also the icon looked nicer before, now it’s just the blizzard logo which doesn’t look as nice at 16×16 resolution in your systray anymore.