SCII: Heart of the Swarm in early 2012?

By Oli Welsh Published 8 October, 2010

Battle.net boss lets slip 18-month time frame.

Blizzard's Battle.net project director Greg Canessa has hinted that the next StarCraft II episode, Heart of the Swarm, is currently scheduled for release in early 2012.

GameSpot reports that Canessa was asked when to expect certain new Battle.net features at his talk at GDC Online in Austin, Texas yesterday. He said they were "a main area of focus we're going to be seeing on the StarCraft side over the next 18 months, between now and Heart of the Swarm."

That would put the release of the Zerg campaign in April 2012. A Blizzard rep subsequently denied to GameSpot that Heart of the Swarm has any release date attached to it.

Canessa's comment was probably influenced by Blizzard's current internal projections, and knowing the developer, these may yet change. However, it's roughly consistent with the two-year gaps between World of Warcraft expansions, as GameSpot points out – so it seems credible.

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About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (9) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Optyk #1 2 years ago

    2012? Christ, they really are going to milk this, aren't they.

  • Apaar #2 2 years ago

    @Optyk: Developing and polishing up an expansion pack for such a long time is not what I would call milking. You might have a point if the expansion was coming out next month.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #3 2 years ago

    Milking it would be releasing an addon every couple of months. Jugding by SC1 the game is bound to stay active for a very, very long time and releasing a new campaign every other year is really far from milking it.

  • George-Roper #4 2 years ago

    Got bored of SC2 months ago. Predictable MP strategy ruined it. Reduces the game far too much into a set order of micromanagement and hotkey sequence.

  • levitate #5 2 years ago

    I'm having a blast with SC2. I don't see a need for the expansion just yet.

  • Spekingur #6 2 years ago

    Err, yes. This is called milking it. It has currently become a feature of Blizzard of releasing expansion packs every two years or so. So, yeah. They are going to "milk" SC2 with expansions for about at least 4+ years.

    Not saying that SC2 isn't a great game. I like it a lot. I just hate this "we must polish the game" excuse from them. They just have a business strategy and this release plan is part of it.

  • vx-chemical #7 2 years ago

    Broodwars was as far as i remember released within a year of Starcraft. This wait, over 2 years, is simply to long for an expansion.

  • levitate #8 2 years ago

    @spekingur:

    Of course it's a business plan. They're going to release a couple top-quality titles until 2012 and it's better to drip-feed the players than give them everything at once. Why anyone would want the expansion now is, to me, arrogant and ignorant.

  • Canyarion #9 2 years ago

    Ok, April 2012 is the scheduled release date. Like all Blizzard games, it will be delayed several times, which could push it into 2013.

    They better start rebuilding their engine. By the time Legacy of the Void is out, it's going to be terribly outdated.