What's in a name? Everything, according to fans of Blizzard. The game developer, most famous for World of Warcraft, was planning to transition away from using the Battle.net name for its online services. However, fans resisted such a move, and Blizzard has now decided to meet them halfway.

In September 2016, Blizzard announced that it was dumping the Battle.net name. This was all about branding, with the company seeking to bring everything under the Blizzard name. So while the technology powering Blizzard's titles would remain the same, the name would change.

Battle.net Lives to Fight Another Day

Unfortunately for Blizzard, the switch away from Battle.net didn't go down well. Players who have been using the Battle.net moniker since 1996 weren't ready to accept the name change. Even Blizzard seemed to struggle, with Battle.net still showing up in promotional material.

So, sensing it was fighting an unwinnable battle, Blizzard decided not to kill the Battle.net name after all. In a blog post announcing the decision, Blizzard admits, "Battle.net is the central nervous system for Blizzard games and the connective tissue that has brought Blizzard players together since 1996."

Given the negativity surrounding the proposal, the company admits that "after giving the branding change further consideration and also hearing your feedback, we’re in agreement that the name should stay as well."

In a rather obvious move the company should have thought of originally, the new name will incorporate both elements. "We will be connecting “Blizzard” to “Battle.net” in our logo for the service and in general when we refer to it in print: Blizzard Battle.net."

This may seem like unimportant news. And indeed it will be to anyone who doesn't play Blizzard games. However, to Diablo III, StarCraft II, and Hearthstone players, Battle.net means something. And Blizzard was dumb to even consider changing the name.

Blizzard Admitted Defeat In Battle.net Battle

The drive to unify the branding across its products and services was never going to eradicate the nostalgic pull Blizzard fans have for the Battle.net name. So Blizzard listened to its fans and simply admitted defeat instead. It's this sort of thing that can help a company build a good reputation.

Do you regularly play Blizzard games? If so, which ones? Are you still addicted to World of Warcraft? Or have you moved onto playing Overwatch? What do you think of Blizzard's decision to keep Battle.net around? Do you even care? The comments are open below!