Hey, remember when Blizzard callously killed the “Battle.net” name, a beloved moniker for its online service in games like StarCraft, Diablo, and Overwatch that dates all the way back to 1996? Well, the blue giant has now decided to un-kill it.
In a blog post, Blizzard explained that it’s forcing us to ride this rollercoaster of brands and emotions that’s a perfect summation of life in the digital age because of fan feedback to the first name change.
“We understood that Battle.net stood for something special,” the company wrote. “It represents years of shared history and enjoyment, community and friendship, for all of us and our players... 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.”
Don’t think, however, that your precious Battle Dot Net is escaping entirely unscathed. Originally, Blizzard planned to do away with the name and simply call its service “Blizzard.” Now, though, the company has done some good old-fashioned corporate Voltron-ing to create Battle.net’s final form: “Blizzard Battle.net.”
After months of hard work, I imagine Blizzard’s Council Of Very Serious Name-Givers must be exhausted. Now, perhaps, they can finally rest.