Last night Blizzard unveiled a redesigned version of Battle.net, their online gaming service. The new Battle.net consolidates all of services for its website and various online games.

The major change for players is that they can create one overall Battle.net account that, according to Blizzard, "allows you to log in to World of Warcraft, manage purchases at the online Blizzard Store, keep track of CD keys for your Blizzard Entertainment games, access our websites (such as the World of Warcraft Armory), opt in to upcoming beta tests, and more." In other words, you'll only have to remember one set of login information now for all of those different functions. In the future, Blizzard will add more features, such as communication between players using different games.

It's currently optional to consolidate your World of Warcraft account(s) into a Battle.net account but it will soon become mandatory. A Battle.net account will also be required for Diablo III and StarCraft II when they're released. The new Battle.net won't affect Warcraft III, Diablo II, and StarCraft - to play those games, you'll use your old Battle.net login information.