Blizzard previews new Battle.net

Blizzard's posted a large preview of Battle.net 2.0 on the StarCraft II site, giving hope that the SCII beta may not be far behind.

"Battle.net is about to undergo the greatest update in its long and storied history as one of the world's most successful online gaming services," says the blurb, and we're not going to argue. It's all looking dandy.

There's a movie interview there with project director Greg Canessa, as well as details of the "always connected experience," mods, "connecting the Blizzard community" and more.

Battle.net 2.0 nand StarCraft II are waltzing down the aisle hand in hand, with one unable - or unwilling - to release without the other.

The StarCraft II beta is long-awaited, and was pushed back out of last year in November.

Looks as though it nearly is. There's no date on it launching, however.

StarCraft II itself is scheduled to release in the first half of 2010. Activision Blizzard's earnings call tonight may cast more light on that.