Automated tournaments will finally be added in the next Beta update for StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void, after Blizzard first announced them last year. This means that you'll be able to jump into daily and weekly ranked tournaments organised by the game's servers, rather than having to wait for a human to set them up.
Blizzard might come back to the classic Warcraft RTS series after the upcoming expansiob Legacy of the Void wraps up the Starcraft 2 saga. Speaking to IGN, Legacy of the Void producer Tim Morten said that while this is definitely not the last we'll see of Blizzard's flagship sci-fi franchise, the team is considering other options too.
Blizzard announced in a Twitch livestream over the weekend that the StarCraft 2 Medic would be the next support character heading to its Heroes of the Storm MOBA. Her big trick is summoning in the Medivac, a futuristic ambulance which can zoom her to any point in the map, and can heal herself and her allies. We don't have a move list or anything just yet, but expect further details soon.
StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void, the final chapter in Blizzard's sci-fi saga, will make it out before the end of the year, Blizzard still maintains.
Five years have come and gone since StarCraft II: Hearts of Liberty first graced our computers, and now Blizzard is celebrating with a series of little things like a fancy unique portrait if you login between July 27th and August 3rd. It's bad news for the backbone of any StarCraft army though as worker units are liable to explode into puffs of confetti. A new wallpaper is being released too in the Media section. Five years and the game still isn't done yet.
Trademark trawlsters have found Blizzard Entertainment has filed for 'Council of Glades' in New Zealand - that bit next to Australia - the bit on the right. It certainly sounds all Druid-like and World of Warcrafty. Perhaps we'll find out at this year's BlizzCon which is scheduled November 6-7 at the Anaheim Convention Center, the mecca for Blizzardites. The trademark covers everything 'computer video game' imaginable.
Customers who pre-order Blizzard's RTS expansion StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void will be able to play three prequel missions right now, before the game launches in full this Winter. Titled Whispers of Oblivion, the prologue features three story missions starring Dark Templar Zeratul, who the Starcraft wiki tells me (I'm not big on the lore in this one) is a Protoss hero and has been a major character throughout the series.
A new unit is making its way to Starcraft 2: Legacy of the Void in the latest Beta Patch 5.2, the Liberator airship. This is a high-cost flying fortress that packs an area affect punch against other air units, but can also target a point on the surface to damage ground units.
World of Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo and other Blizzard Entertainment titles dependent on the studio's Battle.net service are now 'offline' in Crimea following the United States' trade sanctions on the region. Blizzard have been forced into switching off their services and informed affected gamers through an email. All subscriptions have been terminated, though they hope to "restore access" in the future.
Blizzard has gone live with the multiplayer beta for StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void, but beta keys won't be sent out "until later on in the beta cycle." If you've been picked then the beta will be in StarCraft II’s region selection. A welcome email will also have been sent out. Opting in for the multiplayer beta requires fiddling with your account Beta Profile Settings. A "variety of factors" determines who is chosen.
Blizzard's final entry in the StarCraft saga is edging ever closer; the closed beta for StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void will kick off on March 31. The beta will lack some units, improvements and features, and Blizzard points out it “will feel more rough than usual”, but on the plus side it's expected to run for a lot longer than normal.
Blizzard has handed the assets from classic RTS Warcraft 3 over to the Starcraft 2 Arcade modding community, giving them access to “over three thousand new materials” including models, sounds and other doodads. With access to all that data, surely a modern, fan-built version of Warcraft 3 on the new and improved Starcraft engine isn't too far away?
The insanity that is Black Friday is almost ready to plague the United States, simulating if you will the national panic of a zombie apocalypse-style rush for consumer goods. Blizzard has joined the madness. That means there are savings to be had for StarCraft 2, Diablo 3 and of course the big cheese, World of Warcraft. The latter includes all expansions up to Warlords of Draenor, the latest addition.
Blizzard has revealed a standalone expansion for Starcraft 2,titled Legacy of the Void. The developer promises that in its Protoss-focused story campaign the fates of all three main races will be resolved. As well as a solo story, the expansion will add a co-op Archon Mode and a bunch of new units for multiplayer.
The house that built Warcraft is in a teasing mood as Blizzard Entertainment has been posting snippets of sound from the StarCraft 2 game, and uploading them to their Sound Cloud page. They're titled in an interesting manner and appear to be carrying a message. Thus far "See" and "...you..." is all there is to go on; Legacy of the Void is the next known expansion to StarCraft 2.
From the noggin of Activison's Robert Kotick it looks very likely that Blizzard's highly anticipated revival of the classic and cult RTS franchise will be jumping on the advertising bandwagon, with hopes it will be a landmark success for future endeavours of the business model. Blizzard is soon to be merged with Activision becoming Activision Blizzard.
In response to Activision's CEO Robert Kotick's talk at the Morgan Stanley conference in California, Blizzard has issued a rebuff to the in-game advertising claim for RTS StarCraft II. They say there will be no advertising put into the game and that Kotick was no doubt referring to the online service Battle.Net, which does already operate online advertising.
While a trailer has hit the net of gameplay involving Zerg units nothing speaks more than a fact sheet, but has the leaked 'official fact sheet' got substance? There's no way to confirm its Blizzard origins at the moment but it certainly makes for an interesting little read if you just can't wait.
Retailers, especially the online variety, have always been a bit liberal when it comes to announcing videogame release dates. Ahead of Blizzards convention GameStop, Best Buy and Circuit City have all tagged the upcoming RTS sequel StarCraft II with a December 3rd slot.
You may have to find a new package to go in that "reserved-for-Starcraft 2" spot under the Christmas tree this year. Earlier this month several online retailers listed a tentative release date for Starcraft 2 of December 3, 2008, however speculation is now rife that Starcraft 2 will not ship in 2008 at all following the panel presentation given by Blizzard Executive Vice President of Game Design, Rob Pardo, at the 2008 Blizzard Worldwide Invitational.