StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty

Everything you need to know about StarCraft II.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty was recently launched by Blizzard Entertainment in North America, Europe, South Korea, Argentina, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau on July 27th, 2010. Within 24 hours it sold more than 1 million copies worldwide, and 1.5 million in the first 48 hours. This has made it the best-selling game of 2010, and has set the record for the fastest-selling strategy game of all time.

“We launched StarCraft II in 11 different languages and on 5 different continents because we wanted to make sure as many players as possible were able to log on and play on day one,” Mile Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We’re please that so many people around the world have already picked up a copy of the game, and we look forward to welcoming even more players to Battle.net in the weeks and months ahead.”

“StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is officially GameStop’s fastest-selling PC game since Blizzard launched World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King in 2008,” Bob Mckenzie.

On April 8^th, 2010 Blizzard announced that it was going to release two editions of its highly anticipated real-time strategy game, StarCraft II, in a standard edition and a limited-release Collector’s Edition packed with exclusive bonus materials. Regardless of whichever edition you purchase you will be able to play online for free via the new version of Battle.net, the premier online gaming destination for Blizzard Entertainment gamers.

“We’ve been looking forward to revisiting the StarCraft universe with our players for over 10 years, and we wanted to offer an epic collector’s edition that commemorated the occasion,” said Mike Mohaime. “This Special version of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty – easily our biggest collector’s edition to date- does just that, and we think StarCraft II gamers will really enjoy all of the exclusive contents.”

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty will be available on DVD-ROM for Windows^® XP/Windows Vista^®/Windows^® 7 and Macintosh^®. The standard edition will sell for a suggested retail price of $59.99 and will also be available shortly after release as a download through the online Blizzard Store. The special Collector's Edition package, which is priced at $99.99 and will only be available at retail stores, will include the following bonus items in addition to the game disc:

• The Art of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, a 176-page book featuring artwork from the game 
• An exclusive 2GB USB flash drive replica of Jim Raynor's dog tag, which comes preloaded with the original StarCraft and the StarCraft: Brood War^® expansion set
• A behind-the-scenes DVD containing over an hour of developer interviews, cinematics with director's commentary, and more
• The official StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty soundtrack CD, containing 14 epic tracks from the game along with exclusive bonus tracks
• StarCraft comic book issue #0, a prequel to the comic series
• A World of Warcraft^® mini Thor in-game pet that can be applied to all World of Warcraft characters on a single Battle.net account
• Exclusive Battle.net downloadable content, including special portraits for your Battle.net profile, decals to customize your units in-game, and a visually unique version of the terran Thor unit

StarCraft II features the three incisive and sovereign races clashing once again in the fast-paced real-time strategy sequal to the illustrious original, StarCraft. Battalions of veteran, upgraded, and brand-new unit types will do battle across the galaxy, as each coalition struggles for survival. Leaving right where Brood War left off, StarCraft II will reveal a cast of new heroes and familiar faces in a high-strung sci-fi story filled with adventure and intrigue. The game will have a beautiful 3D graphics engine with support for amazing visual effects and intimidating unit and army sizes. Also included is map making and scripting tools to give players the freedom they need to build a map and make their own “home field advantage.”

New to the game will be a gauntlet of challenge-mode mini-games with the intention of helping new and old players alike learn the basics of multiplayer strategies. In addition to that there will be a multitude of new maps for competitive play when players decide to battle it out online. To make your online experience more amazing you will now be able to use voice communication, view character profiles and achievements, stat-tracking, ladders and leagues, cloud file storage, and much more.

“With StarCraft II, we’ll be able to do everything we wanted to do with the original StarCraft and more,” stated Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We recognize that expectations are high following the long-running popularity of the original game, but we plan to meet those expectations and deliver an engaging, action-packed, competitive experience that StarCraft players and strategy gamers worldwide will enjoy.”