StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty closed beta begins

Robert Hallock 17 Feb, 2010 at 4:34pm ET Article published in Gaming

Blizzard has today announced that it has begun to distribute invitations to the StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty closed beta test. Thousands of gamers from around the world will be invited to participate in the first phase of testing. In addition to providing feedback about the multiplayer experience of StarCraft II, they will also get to try the totally revamped Battle.net match-making system.

“Gathering concentrated feedback from our players is an important step for us as we head into the final stretch of development for StarCraft II and the new Battle.net service,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We look forward to having our players’ help in polishing the overall experience and preparing for launch.”

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is the sequel to Blizzard’s 1998 hit StarCraft, widely praised as one of the best RTS titles of all time. Featuring a brand new 3D engine, StarCraft II once again puts players in control of the struggle between the Protoss, Terran and Zerg, with each side deploying armies of units both new and old.

As the first installment of the StarCraft II series, Wings of Liberty is expected to launch in 2H2010 featuring the complete multiplayer experience and the Terran aspect of StarCraft II’s single player saga. Wings of Liberty will be followed later by Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void, which chronicle the stories of the Zerg and Protoss, respectively.

For more information on StarCraft II and the beta test, visit the official StarCraft II website. To set up a Battle.net account and sign up for a chance to participate in the StarCraft II beta test, please visit the official Battle.net website.

Comments

17 Feb 2010 ~ 4:50pm Koreish According to Gamestop it is set to be released New Year's Eve at the cost of 59.99USD.
17 Feb 2010 ~ 7:39pm ardichoke If that's right, all I have to say is fuck you Blizzard. I'm not paying $180 for, essentially, one game.
17 Feb 2010 ~ 7:44pm pigflipper

ardichoke wrote:

If that's right, all I have to say is fuck you Blizzard. I'm not paying $180 for, essentially, one game.

You know you will indeed pay it, and like paying it, once you get your hands on the game.
17 Feb 2010 ~ 7:49pm Winfrey One of my friends got into the beta, lucky shmuck!
17 Feb 2010 ~ 7:52pm chrisWhite

ardichoke wrote:

If that's right, all I have to say is fuck you Blizzard. I'm not paying $180 for, essentially, one game.

That's just silliness, we have no real idea what we're looking at yet. Considering how long they could potentially have been working on SC2, even how long we know they've been working on it the could easily have three entire games worth of material. If that's the case I'll be happy to pay for that, even if it's not all at one time.

I think it's too early to call and it's way too early to get pissed off.
17 Feb 2010 ~ 7:57pm ardichoke Can you find one instance in the past where each faction in an RTS was sold separately at the price tag of a single full game each? I can't think of any. Considering there's no difference in the AI, engine, units, etc. between the three games you'll have a hell of a time convincing me it's worth shelling out $60 3 times over to get all 3 campaigns. At least the expansion packs of yore came with more units, extended tech trees and a lower price tag. The fact that buying one episode, from what I've read, will allow you to run play all three sides in multiplayer, the only content that differs between the 3 installments is the maps and cut scenes. Unless they are doing something drastically and radically different than any other RTS ever. In which case I MIGHT (and that is a HUGE MIGHT) consider buying them.
17 Feb 2010 ~ 8:04pm chrisWhite Right, so SC2 is doing something radically different ("Can you find one instance...") but you think that probably won't be worth the money, unless they're doing something radically different in which case you might?

I see what you're saying, I agree on the engine and everything else but I just don't feel like we know enough about the games get mad and flame Blizzard with so little know about what's actually coming. I'll ask you this though, have you ever felt like you didn't get your money's worth in a Blizzard game before? Sure, WoW is a money sink but I never hear anyone complain about the value of it.

I'm not saying I agree with what they're doing or that it won't be a waste of money, but there's so little we know at this point that I don't feel comfortable calling it either way. I do tend to trust Blizzard though.
17 Feb 2010 ~ 8:16pm Thrax All I care about is the multiplayer, and I'd pay $60 to get my hands on SC2's multiplayer, which comes with WoL. That said, EB Games and Gamestop both have a history of over-estimating the MSRP of titles when they project its release date years in advance, as they have done with SC2.
17 Feb 2010 ~ 8:29pm ardichoke I don't play WoW specifically because I don't feel any game is worth a monthly fee. Historically speaking, no, I haven't felt ripped off by any Blizzard game I've bought. Then again, the only Blizz games I've bought were the WCIII Battle chest and the SC Battle chest. If they had broken WCIII or SC into 3 separate installments and charged full price for each, yes, I would have felt ripped off.
17 Feb 2010 ~ 9:41pm pseudonym Just noticed I never opted in for Beta's on Battle.net, oops. Make sure you do that people or you won't get into anything!
17 Feb 2010 ~ 10:03pm Sledgehammer70 I got an invite woot!~
17 Feb 2010 ~ 10:18pm Sledgehammer70 Man this download is taking ages......
18 Feb 2010 ~ 1:12am RWB I'd pay a butt-load for what's in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joNPrnY4K_4
18 Feb 2010 ~ 2:56am Koreish Maybe they'll do it like an expansion set. The WoL will be the full cost of a game and HotS and LotV will be 20-30USD. I'll be okay with this setup so long as new Multiplayer content is released simultaneously with the single player campaigns.
18 Feb 2010 ~ 6:03am Sledgehammer70 DoTA 2.0
18 Feb 2010 ~ 9:36am Zuntar This had better live up to my expectations, which are pretty high!!!!!!!!
18 Feb 2010 ~ 12:42pm Chip-Dapper Would the Zerg be considered raman, or varelse?
18 Feb 2010 ~ 12:54pm shwaip

Chip Dapper wrote:

Would the Zerg be considered raman, or varelse?

ramen.
22 Feb 2010 ~ 11:57pm Winfrey The second wave of invites were sent out today, check your blizzard account to see if you got in.
30 Mar 2010 ~ 7:28pm shwaip Anyone in the beta playing a lot? Looks like a bunch of fun, and I can't wait to either get a beta invite (i'm opted-in) or for the game to be released.

Watching youtube videos is just making me antsy.
31 Mar 2010 ~ 1:27pm Myrmidon @shwaip I've got a buddy in the beta who's currently top of the platinum ladder in division seven, but that's about as close as I am to 'playing a lot.'