Battle.net

Battle.net is an online gaming service provided by Blizzard Entertainment responsible for hosting StarCraft multiplayer games and related services. It was launched in January of 1997 with the release of Blizzard's action-RPG &mdash; 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.

Features
With the release of StarCraft in 1998, usage of the Battle.net service increased significantly in comparison to Blizzard's previous games. Features such as ladder ranking and game filters were added to the service. Battle.net grew even larger after the release of the expansion pack StarCraft: Brood War. Concurrent player counts and games played reached the tens of thousands. This was especially evident in South Korea where StarCraft became a runaway hit and concurrent player counts on Battle.net would often be many times what they were in the United States.

StarCraft also brought with it a new copyright protection scheme using CD keys. Under Diablo, Battle.net would allow anyone who had a copy of the game to connect to the service. This allowed people who pirated the game to play on Battle.net. With StarCraft, only those players who had a valid CD key were allowed onto the service. A StarCraft CD key is a generated 13-digit number that could either be muted (unable to chat), voided (restricted to channel 'The Void'), banned (disabled usage), or usually working (no restrictions). In addition, only one person can be connected to Battle.net service using a specific CD key at a time. Every Blizzard game since StarCraft has required a unique, valid CD key to connect to Battle.net (excluding StarCraft: Brood War). With the release of the Gateway system in Brood War, two players can play at the same time, as long as they are on different gateways, though they cannot play in the same game, chat with each other, etc.

Battle.net 2.0

 * A new version of battle.net launched on March 19, 2009.


 * Jay Wilson said the new version of battle.net should come out with StarCraft II. Frank Pearce said they probably won't be able to implement all plans by the time StarCraft II launches, but they can add more features to battle.net "as we go".


 * LAN will not be supported.

Beta
The new battle.net offers a StarCraft II beta opt-in and as of May 6, 2009 the beta opt-in page has been updated. Beta candidates can download a program which will scan their system and determine if it's capable of dealing with StarCraft II beta. This new account is not compatible with StarCraft battle.net accounts or those of older games, but can be merged with World of Warcraft accounts. North American gamers could download a program to scan their system to determine if it qualified for the StarCraft II beta on May 6th, 2009. European gamers gained access to the new battle.net on May 27th, 2009.

When StarCraft II's beta starts, beta key holders will be able to enter their keys using their account management page.

StarCraft II has been delayed to at least 2010 to give adequate time to prepare battle.net.

Accounts

 * A battle.net account is required to play StarCraft II. One of the first things a player does while installing StarCraft II is create a battle.net account.


 * An account contains a limited number of characters.

Social Tools

 * Blizzard wants people to "find their friends quickly, to communicate with them, and to play together." They are discussing creating an online community, much like with World of Warcraft, linking StarCraft II players with those of other franchises. It intends for gamers to always be online, even when playing single-player. They will see the login screen before they play their first game, and can play as a "guest" for the campaign. You can include achievements in your profile, which will in turn give you access to decals.


 * Players can form persistent "parties" which enter games together.


 * Players can access their friends list, even when playing single-player. Players can make a game private, only invite their friends, then later open it up to the public again.


 * Chatting will be in an instant-messenger format.


 * Voice-over-internet chat has been proposed.

Achievements

 * Players of StarCraft II and Diablo III will share "gamer achievements", adding up to a Blizzard Level, in a similar manner to the system in World of Warcraft. They are available in single-player, but only if the player is connected to the internet.

Skill Levels

 * Battle.net features different leagues: Practice league, bronze, silver, gold, platinum and pro league.


 * The game features automated matchmaking, similar to Warcraft III. Players are assigned a skill level after 5 to 10 games. Teams will have a separate rating.

Other Features

 * Cloud storage: Saved single-player games can be accessed online. (You could play the campaign at home, then continue it elsewhere.)


 * Lists of all available maps will be put on battle.net. They will have stats reflecting their popularity or genre. Some maps will even be available for sale in a marketplace.


 * Custom games filter: Games can be filtered by genre, not just "custom".


 * Blizzard intends to make the new version of battle.net secure from hacks and cheats using lessons learned from World of Warcraft. For example, there will be a security token to add an extra layer of protection from account fraud, and the online platform will require a valid and unique CD key.

Monetization
The new battle.net accounts will not have subscriptions or fees; this has been repeatedly directly confirmed by Blizzard Entertainment.

Following a BlizzCon Diablo III interview in which Activision Blizzard employee Julian Wilson mentioned "monetizing" battle.net, Rob Pardo clarified that only some extra features may carry a charge.

Some special maps will be available for sale in the marketplace.

Growth history
Blizzard claims "millions of active users" on Battle.net, and that they are the leaders of online gaming, noting that even Xbox Live doesn't even come close. By November 1997 they had 22 million games played, 1.25 million different users, and that they averaged 3,500 new users each day. By April 1999, it was reported that Battle.net had 2.3 million active users, and more than 50,000 concurrent users.

By September 2004, their active user count was up to nearly 12 million, spending more than 2.1 million hours online each day, and they had an average of 200,000 concurrent users, with a peak concurrent user count of 400,000. By 2009 it had 12 million subscribers, just over World of Warcraft's 11.5 million.

Forums
On October 8th, 2008, Blizzard Entertainment opened the new battle.net forums. The StarCraft II forum is located at http://forums.battle.net/board.html?forumId=12009&sid=3000

Community
A community of developers has arisen around Battle.net. Many unofficial clients are available for Battle.net, and most of the protocol used by Battle.net-enabled games has been reverse-engineered and published by volunteers.

Also, several communication tools have been made, like a "whisper" tool, so that you could talk to your friends even if they were in a game.