Support for LAN has been axed from eagerly awaited sequel II, the developer admitting that they didn't want to cull the feature ideally.

"While this was a difficult decision for us, we felt that moving away from LAN play and directing players to our upgraded Battle.net service was the best option to ensure a quality multiplayer experience with and safeguard against piracy," reads official word from the developer reported by VG247.

Blizzard promise those using Battle.net will benefit from "advanced communication options, achievements, stat-tracking, and more", although the community are still likely to be riled by the complete axing of any LAN support.

More shortly.

By Luke Guttridge