Blizzard has come a long way from the Battle.net days, and now the gaming giant’s new launcher is finally out of its extended beta.
Fans who log into Blizzard app will be greeted by a revamped user interface, complete with shiny new designs for its social tab, notification page, and game browser. It’s a snappy new design, with full-page hubs for the company’s major titles including World of Warcraft, Diablo 3, and Hearthstone. Each hub features game news, patch notes, and upcoming events in one easily accessible spot. But it’s not just the game pages that are getting a fresh look.
The launcher’s notifications, which have been scattered across the launcher since its original release, are now tucked into their own section. Users will be able to open the new notifications tab and see all notifications in one spot. Alongside the notifications upgrade is an improved friends list and social panel, which should make it much easier for players to see who’s online and what game they’re playing, no matter if they’re in the middle of a Call of Duty: Warzone match or finishing up their daily quests in World of Warcraft’s latest expansion, Shadowlands.
It’s been a long time coming, with the now-retired launcher only hitting patch 1.9 almost eight years after its release. The company also offers a mobile app for gamers on the go, as well as a two-factor authenticator for the “don’t you guys have phones?” crowd.
The new app is a step in the right direction, but players shouldn’t get too excited just yet. Even with Blizzard’s new launcher, they’ll still have to log all the way into Call if Duty: Modern Warfare to get into a game of Warzone. And that’s only if they don’t have shaders to install.
Getting ahold of the new Blizzard launcher is as easy as heading over to the Blizzard website. Clicking download on any of the listed games will download that game plus Blizzard’s new launcher.
If you already have the older version of the Blizzard App, you should be notified of an update soon after logging in. Alternatively, you can manually trigger the download by selecting “check for updates” from the menu in the upper left corner.
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