Blizzard may license Battle.net down the road

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Scheduled to launch alongside StarCraft II, Blizzard's revamped Battle.net service will bring goodies like in-game achievements, unlockables, improved matchmaking, ladder and chat systems, an online marketplace, and more.

According to a Blizzard exec, the company is mulling the possibility of licensing the overhauled platform to third parties. "It's something that we've definitely talked about," said Blizzard's Rob Pardo, adding that it would take a lot of work from the company's other teams.

"Every time we have the discussion, we try to figure out what's going to happen if let's say a Blizzard game was coming out and a third party game was coming out at the same time. Could we be agnostic in that way?" It was also said that offering the same level of support to third parties might be difficult.

Pardo mentioned that StarCraft II's Map Marketplace will be an excellent test-bed for the company, so if that goes well, who knows what might unfold.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/38241-blizzard-may-license-battlenet-down-the-road.html

 

[Xclusiveitalian]

This is good and bad news...sounds like they want to jump on the DLC bandwagon

 

[flukeh]

xclusiveitalian said:
This is good and bad news...sounds like they want to jump on the DLC bandwagon

They are one of the pioneers of the DLC bandwagon but in physical form. All Blizzards PC games have one or more expansions that you have to pay a premium for. I don't see how Blizzard products would then cost any different. They would just be accessible to more people easier.

 

[CMH]

Sounds like they might turn Battle.net into another Steam... exclusively for Blizzard of course.

 

[EXCellR8]

perhaps this will launch with Diablo 3?

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Sounds like they might turn Battle.net into another Steam... exclusively for Blizzard of course.

The premise of opening Battle.net to third parties means it wouldn't be exclusive to Blizzard. Keeping the doors shut and using the platform only for in-house content isn't at all what Valve has done with Steam.

 

[AimHigh99]

I hope they don't license the platform to third parties. I bet a lot of users will be disgruntled if they do!

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Why's that AimHigh99?

 

[princeton]

Modern warfare 2. Thats why. The word matchmaking makes me want to scream since that.

 

[Yoda8232]

Can't wait till the new Battle.net comes out, looks a like a great competitor to Steam.
I still think we should have some type of universal PC gaming program.
And EXCellR8 this would have to come out with Starcraft 2, as there is multiplayer.

 

[Tekkaraiden]

I'm curious who they'd license the technology out to, Activision maybe?

 

[TomSEA]

Hmmm...interesting as Blizzard is one of the big innovators in PC gaming. Curious to see exactly what they have in mind and how much control they're going to let go off.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

They just want a piece of the massive and juicy Korean E-sports pie.
Blizzard Korea and Kespa are having arguments about rights of broadcasting SCII and what not...

PS: I don't think Blizzard likes ICCUP very much .

 

[ashwingeek]

Blizzard keep coming up with good ideas but never actually tell when they are gonna imply them.
Would be delighted if the new battle.net is opened soon.

Wish they would release Diablo 3 soon, but i guess we cant expect it to be released until 2011 :-(

 

[rskapadia2294]

great work! eagerly waiting for this one!

 

[Richy2k9]

hello ...

humm, quite interesting indeed. I'm a big fan of Diablo & already have a battle.net account.
don't we say, the more we are, better is the fun .. so let's rock!

I'm waiting for Diablo III too, so please i hope 2012 won't be the end of the world, for this would be one of my biggest regret - not playing this wonderful game (yeah i'm still not sure will be out for 3 - 4 years hehe!)

cheers!

 

[yangly18]

EXCellR8 said:
perhaps this will launch with Diablo 3?

this would make sense to me...Diablo 3 should be launching pretty soon, since preorder is available now. I'm interested in seeing what they decide to do.

 

[Thompson]

This new version of battlenet sounds fantastic, at present it's a pretty useless system, licensing it to 3rd parties is an exciting proposition, hopefully battlenet will turn into the Steam of Blizzard games.

 

[Puiu]

I wonder if they'll sell the games on their website if they actually license it. They could become steams biggest rival.

 

[compdata]

Puiu said:
I wonder if they'll sell the games on their website if they actually license it. They could become steams biggest rival.

Do we want more and more distribution systems? I know from a control and monetary perspective we are likely to get several different ones. But i find it pretty annoying, and cluttering on my computer.

 

[jjbeard926]

I don't think the Battle.net format works for most other games anyway. I don't really see this working well. Let alone the security concerns involved with giving other companies access to the Battle.net accounts.

 

[JMMD]

I'd like to hear more about exactly how they would license it and for what purpose. If it would just be used for game licensing or DRM then maybe it would work but I don't see them being able to compete with Steam as an online game distributor.

 

[ryan29121]

Sounds like another way Blizzard can make money. Don't they make enough?

 

[EduardsN]

I'm thinking of trying out starcraft 2 probably very fun to play online with others, is it out yet or still in beta?

 

[Docnoq]

"Pardo mentioned that StarCraft II's Map Marketplace will be an excellent test-bed for the company, so if that goes well, who knows what might unfold. "

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this yet. Does this Map marketplace imply they are going to start charging for maps? I would be thoroughly disappointed if you have to pay for SC2 maps.. then again, I usually stick to custom games/maps anyhow.

@compdata: That is precisely why I only use Steam for my digital distribution service. I really don't want to keep tabs on several distribution services, and trying to maintain a friends list across all of them would be a nightmare. Luckily Steam has enough deals to keep me happy