Blizzard has been making games with fan-favorite online modes for years, and introduced Battle.net as the service for players to jump on and challenge one another more than two decades ago. In 2016, Blizzard re-branded Battle.net but now it is re-branding its online service once again.

Battle.net has hosted games from the original Diablo to World of Warcraft, and it continues to be the home of Blizzard's latest games, like Overwatch. But Blizzard had tried changing the services name to just "Blizzard" - a much more familiar name to gamers that may not have played any of Blizzard's games - since the company no longer felt its online services needed to have their own unique brand. But Blizzard is now deciding to keep the Battle.net name and combine it to make "Blizzard Battle.net."

For those new to Blizzard games, this will likely make online services a bit easier to understand, as the link between Battle.net and Blizzard will be plainly stated. And for gamers who have been playing games on Battle.net since 1996, the nostalgia can live on for the foreseeable future. The branding change won't have an impact on the service players receive, so gamers have nothing to worry about on that front.

Blizzard's branding of its online services may become more important in the future, as Blizzard is expanding its platform to include games from other developers. The most notable addition coming to Blizzard Battle.net is Destiny 2, which won't be available on Steam, uPlay, or Origin, at least not immediately upon launch. If players have a clearer understanding of the online platform, it could result in more players ending up in Blizzard Battle.net games, helping to create a larger community for online games.

All in all, Blizzard's decision to bring the Battle.net moniker back shouldn't imply anything more than a respect for its community. Blizzard mentioned in its announcement on the return of Battle.net that player feedback was a determining factor in the decision. Of course, Blizzard often has ways of making it clear that it listens to its fans, like when Jeff Kaplan mentioned buffs coming to Orisa that are live on the PTR now.