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"Perhaps best known for World of Warcraft, video game developer and publisher Blizzard Entertainment let loose a hugely significant tidbit of information in the gaming space: It will integrate Facebook into its popular online service Battle.net.\nOutside of WoW, the Starcraft franchise is one of Blizzard's other extremely popular multiplayer universes, and the Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty sequel has been highly anticipated. When the game launches for the PC on July 27, players will be able to share in-game activities and accomplishments directly with their Facebook friends.\nThe move is significant for several reasons, not the least of which is the impressive reach of Facebook even into some of the most hardcore corners of the video games industry. It also signifies a shift away from the time-honored tradition of anonymity in multiplayer gaming by tying user's gameplay into their real life social graph. Without too many details on the specifics of the integration it's difficult to comment on how deeply that push will go, but it's certainly a fascinating acknowledgment of the confluence of social gaming and social networking. \nWhile older titles will remain unchanged, Starcraft II, World of Warcraft and future Blizzard titles like the hotly-anticipated Diablo III will benefit from the new Facebook integration with Battle.net. In other words, someday soon you may be able to track down exactly who was just trash-talking you in Barrens chat. Considering all of this will be opt-in,  how many of you gamers out there would be interested in hooking up your in-game identity with your real friends versus sticking with anonymity?\n\n\nFor more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook\n\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2010/05/05/blizzard-facebook-battlenet/>