Battle.net
The Battle.net logo
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| Developer(s) | Blizzard Entertainment |
|---|---|
| Stable release |
1.5.1.8098
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| Type |
Content delivery Digital rights management Multiplayer online service Social networking |
| License | Proprietary |
| Alexa rank |  326 (October 2016[update]) |
| Website | Battle.net |
Battle.net is an internet-based online gaming, digital distribution, and digital rights management platform developed by Blizzard Entertainment. Battle.net was launched on November 30, 1996, with the release of Blizzard's action-role-playing video game Diablo.
Battle.net was the first online gaming service incorporated directly into the games that make use of it, in contrast to the external interfaces used by the other online services at the time. This feature, along with ease of account creations and the absence of member fees, caused Battle.net to become popular among gamers and became a major selling point for Diablo and subsequent Blizzard games. Since the successful launch of Battle.net, many companies have published online game services mimicking Blizzard's service package and the user interface.
Blizzard officially unveiled the revamped Battle.net 2.0 on March 20, 2009. It later revealed further details of the Battle.net revamped features at Blizzcon 2009 which supported StarCraft II, Diablo III and World of Warcraft. The original Battle.net was then renamed to Battle.net Classic.
On September 21, 2016, Blizzard Entertainment announced it would be retiring the Battle.net brand to focus on Blizzard as their main brand for all current and upcoming services.
When the service initially launched with Diablo in November 30, 1996, Battle.net offered only a few basic services like chatting and game listings. Players could connect to the service, talk with other gamers and join multiplayer games of Diablo. Besides user account data, no game data was stored on the Battle.net servers. When a player connected to a game, they would be connecting directly to the other players in the game. No data was sent through the Battle.net servers. While this made the service quick and easy to use, it quickly led to widespread cheating since players using cheats could modify their game data locally. However, since there was an option to create private games, many players ended up playing with people they knew.
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