Blizzard is pushing to turn the new and improved Battle.net, which will eventually contain its entire catalog, into a strong platform for both gaming and social networking. Its latest move: Facebook integration.

"The first step in the integration will enable StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty players to quickly add Blizzard gamers who are friends on Facebook to their Battle.net friend lists, facilitating their social gaming experience on the service," Blizzard explains. This functionality will be added to the beta "in the near future," and more uses for your Facebook account will be revealed at a future date.

Blizzard wants you playing, and perhaps even buying, games on Battle.net. An easy way to make you feel comfortable with the service is to have a simple way to populate it with your friends and family.... and Facebook integration certainly does that.

Using Facebook to organize your World of WarCraft Guild or schedule raids could actually be an attractive feature. What else is coming from this partnership? We're going to have to wait and see, but Blizzard needs to tread softly; Facebook applications can go from useful to annoying very quickly.