Blizzard launches new Battle.net

By Oli Welsh Published 20 March, 2009

Unified login for WOW and future games.

Blizzard has launched its new Battle.net online gaming and account management service. At present, it's simply a unified login that will work for up to eight World of Warcraft accounts and all future Blizzard games such as StarCraft II and Diablo III, as well as Blizzard's online store.

Players who've already created one of the stop-gap Blizzard Accounts have had that login automatically transferred to the new Battle.net.

Merging World of Warcraft accounts with Battle.net accounts is currently only available in the Americas. Europe and Korea will get this service at a later date. It's currently optional, but "we will eventually require all active World of Warcraft accounts to migrate over to Battle.net Accounts in order to continue playing," according to the FAQ.

"With the upcoming releases of StarCraft II and Diablo III, having one unified account system allows us to ensure the highest-quality user experience and customer support for our players. In addition, the new Battle.net Account system will give World of Warcraft players access to certain future Battle.net service features and updates," it continues.

There are few hints as to what these future service features will be, with the FAQ simply referring to "tools to make it easier for friends to communicate between games and to help bring our community of players closer together". However, Blizzard has previously suggested a unified achievement system similar to Xbox Live or Steam.

"Eventually, our plans are for the Achievement system to become an account-based system... For now, the points are just a WOW character score," said former WOW lead designer Jeff Kaplan last year. "As we graduate to that Blizzard Account system, which is right on the horizon, it will switch over to a Blizzard Level... Rather than call it a 'score', we just wanted it to be like you're levelling up on Blizzard games."

You can currently add multiple Blizzard games to the Battle.net account by entering their CD keys, and once done, this will allow you to download the game clients at any time direct from the Battle.net website. The new account system is entirely separate from the old Battle.net, now called Battle.net Classic, so Warcraft III, Diablo II and StarCraft players will still need their old logins.

Expect the full Battle.net picture to become clear when StarCraft II launches, which is expected to be later this year.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (12) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Superastic #1 3 years ago

    Bring on Diablo 3!

  • hiddenranbir #2 3 years ago

    So if they end up picking third party games also, we'll now have

    Steam, Impulse and Battle.net? Hmm!

  • Der_tolle_Emil #3 3 years ago

    It's nice that you can download the games you added. I like that.

  • Macross #4 3 years ago

    hidden, dont forget games for windows live just for good measure!! :)

  • LazyDan #5 3 years ago

    No, do forget it. It's the best way.

  • Mooglepies #6 3 years ago

    So long as it's not a pay service for non MMO multiplayer, I don't mind.

  • Spekingur #7 3 years ago

    So, Battle.net will be like Steam? Omg, what new amazing inventions Blizzard come up with! *sigh*

  • TriggerHippie #8 3 years ago

    Yeah! Stop adding functionality to your services Blizzard! And stop updating your hardware. Just because other services cater to the expectations of modern gamers doesn't mean you should try to! 56k flex modem should be recommended spec for Diablo 3 too!

  • otto #9 3 years ago

    "Eventually, our plans are for the Achievement system to become an account-based system... For now, the points are just a WOW character score," said former WOW lead designer Jeff Kaplan last year. "As we graduate to that Blizzard Account system, which is right on the horizon, it will switch over to a Blizzard Level... Rather than call it a 'score', we just wanted it to be like you're levelling up on Blizzard games."

    WTF is he on about??
    Edited by 1 at 20/03/09 @ 12:05

  • Eury #10 3 years ago

    He is talking about keeping track of achievements across all (upcoming) Blizzard games. So you can see what you have achieved in WoW, SC 2, D3 etc and compare it to other players.
    The achievement score you have won't be used for anything other than showing how much time you have spent or what you have accomplished in the game(s).
    Edited by 2 at 20/03/09 @ 12:49

  • TitusCrow #11 3 years ago

    They want to see where we are and what we're doing at all times. Then they can berate you by email for being on Diablo3 instead of leveling up your lvl 20 gnome warlock alt ( which of course you should be doing! ) "looks uneasy" ...... "puts on tinfoil hat in preperation"

  • levitate #12 3 years ago

    Juicy.