An anonymous reader tips news that Blizzard will be requiring all
World of Warcraft players to use
Battle.net accounts to log into the game
starting on November 11th. After that time, players who don't switch will be unable to play the game. Some time after the transition is complete, players will be able to "participate in cross-realm chat in
World of Warcraft, create real-life friends lists, and communicate across different games." More details on the new Battle.net and what it will do are available in our Blizzcon
wrap-up and
interviews from August. Naturally, the idea that the new Battle.net is getting closer to deployment has sparked speculation that the
StarCraft II beta
might come along soon.