Blizzard Previews New Battle.net. Can Starcraft 2 Beta be Far Behind?

In a lengthy post on the Starcraft 2 site, Blizzard gives an in-depth preview of the upcoming overhaul and relaunch of Battle.net. As has been talked about in prior reports, the service promotes four key components: an always-connected experience, a competitive arena accessible by everyone, tightly integrated community features, and seamless support for mods and community-created content. Along with describing these elements in a little me detail, the post includes some screen captures of the interface that give an idea of how it will all come together.

But maybe the most exciting part of this post is what it doesn't say but strongly hints at. Back in August, Blizzard pinned the delay of Starcraft 2 into 2010 on the time needed to make this massive upgrade to Battle.net. The intro to the page says "Battle.net is about to undergo the greatest update in its long and storied history." Judging from the polish in what they're showing "about" looks pretty soon and that should pave the way to our getting the Starcraft 2 beta.

Oh, and it's pretty hard to miss that welcome to the Starcraft 2 beta screen in the video below. The date on the screen reads January 22 with 60 games available. Surely it can't be much longer before we're looking at a much larger number of games from the comfort of our own gaming rigs.