Midnight opening for StarCraft II

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 21 July, 2010

"For the Horde!" Wait...

GAME on Oxford Street, London, will open at midnight on 26th July for the release of Blizzard's science fiction real-time strategy game StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty.

Doors open at 11pm. We recommend getting there early. Like, go now.

Lead software engineer Carl Chimes will be signing copies of the game for you to treasure for the rest of your lives.

The lovely people at Blizzard plan exclusive giveaways and prizes. The Collector's Edition, which includes a 176-page art book, the soundtrack CD, a 2GB USB flash drive preloaded with the original StarCraft & StarCraft: Brood War expansion, a behind-the-scenes DVD, a StarCraft II comic book, and an exclusive World of Warcraft mini Thor in-game pet, will also be there, just gagging to be bought.

Wondering what all the fuss is about? Eurogamer went hands-on in May. Just don't mention Real ID.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (28) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • Gambit1977 #1 2 years ago

    I think they'll be surprised when about twenty people turn up.

    I could be wrong, but the PC Market, and RTS Market are very different to the pew pew teenies.

  • jonbwfc #2 2 years ago

    You didn't see the number of people who turned up for Wrath Of The Lich King, did you?

  • CaptainKid #3 2 years ago

    To piratebay!

  • SAMagic #4 2 years ago

    For Adun! For Aiur! Eurogamer, I stand ready!

  • Ged42 #5 2 years ago

    I tempted to turn just to see if there are any lasses dressed as Night Elves, there's always a few cosplayers at signings/launches.

  • Acrid #6 2 years ago

    @CaptainKid

    lol

    @Ged42

    You're a perv +1
    Edited by Acrid at 21/07/10 @ 18:06

  • Pablo2k5 #7 2 years ago

    @CaptainKid

    Scum.

  • Malek86 #8 2 years ago

    On July 26th, the productivity of South Korean companies will suddenly drop to abysmal levels.

    As for me, I wonder if this might be a good place to start for someone who has basically never played RTS games.

  • wellsie #9 2 years ago

    anyone know the cheapest place to pre-order this? Would make it easier if it was on steam!

  • jaangus #10 2 years ago


    Malek86
    21/07/10 @ 19:30
    ignore poster | #8
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    On July 26th, the productivity of South Korean companies will suddenly drop to abysmal levels.

    As for me, I wonder if this might be a good place to start for someone who has basically never played RTS games.

    as good a place to start as any original star craft was one of my favourite games and this looks excellent too not been able to play it yet though.

  • Scopeh #11 2 years ago

    @wellsie Steam is not cheap. If you want an online copy buy it off the battle.net shop.

  • George-Roper #12 2 years ago

    @Malek86

    On July 26th, the productivity of South Korean companies will suddenly drop to abysmal levels.

    You may end up being surprised.

    Starcraft was so popular over there, for so long because it required low-spec machines to run. The kind of machines you can sit down at in Internet Cafes and the like.

    Starcraft 2 will definitely not be playable on the same spec or even anywhere near. It's a whole bunch of generations ahead.

  • wellsie #13 2 years ago

    @Scopeh

    Its not always expensive normally they bundle games together or have sales. Its going to be rrp on battle.net. looks like pre-ordering a boxed copy and hoping it arrives on time.
    Edited by wellsie at 21/07/10 @ 20:06

  • FWB #14 2 years ago

    So My 2.0Dual 2 Core 3Gig 128Mb Graphics card won't cut it for this?

  • ircaddicts #15 2 years ago

    Ok look A 10 year old crap game with slightly better gfx. I'm sure it will sell really well.

  • Nephirion #16 2 years ago

    £35 for a PC RTS seems excessive * sudenly notices Activision label

  • Eraysor #17 2 years ago

    Cannot wait.

    For anyone that thinks the game isn't worth it, watch this. And know that from playing the beta, the gameplay is superb and it's probably the most polished game I have played since HL2: Episode 2.

  • CaptainKid #18 2 years ago

    @Eraysor
    post#18
    Watched the video, don't get why I should be excited, it doesn't show gameplay at all.

    Off topic.
    Not having a quote function is starting to get bloody annoying.

  • Ryboy #19 2 years ago

    Meh, don't care. I'll wait until it's £3.99 on Steam cheers.

    Now Diablo III, that'll be a first day purchase.

  • JDFreeman #20 2 years ago

    Everyone get on board the Overhype Train! Toot toot

  • kar #21 2 years ago

    I'll be one of those twenty then :-)

    I'll be in line from around 2130 :)

  • FooAtari #22 2 years ago

    @Ryboy

    Do you think this will ever appear on Steam? I'm sure Blizzard will be more than happy to push Battle.net and sell from their only unfortunately.

    Anyway, I'll prob pick this up when the price drops a littlee

    @wellsie

    Cheapest place at the moment appears to be Tesco. £29.97
    Edited by FooAtari at 22/07/10 @ 09:51

  • Dagdriver #23 2 years ago

    SC2, *yawn*
    @Eraysor sure nice trailer, nice chick, but gameplay looks as stupid as ever.
    Edited by Dagdriver at 22/07/10 @ 10:09

  • geeza2020 #24 2 years ago

    I'm still bitter that theres not going to be another Warcraft RTS, they were always much better than starcraft IMO. But the most recent RTS that i have played that really impressed me is Company of Heroes, and I am struggling to see how this will top that despite its age. From the gameplay videos i have seen of this, it doesnt seem to be adding anything new to the genre, it might be as slick as hell, but if its old hat, its old hat right?

  • UncleLou #25 2 years ago

    I seriously fail to see the fascination in Starcraft, it's actually a rather dull run of the mill RTS, even improved graphs are not going to make the game even slightly more enticing, i guess its a personnal thing but i can't but help feel that people have been somehow cleverly manipulated into thinking that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

    It's not my favourite RTS by a country-mile, but I still look forward immensely to the level of polish, awesome CGI-scenes and plain playability that comes guaranteed with a Blizzard game. A Blizzard game is always a ton of fun to play, and always is a clear labour of love with nearly unmatched attention to detail. Can't see myself playing this online, but I'd be very surprised if I didn't enjoy the single-player campaign a lot.

    I also can't even remember the last time a more traditional RTS was even released, so I don't see the problem that it's not yet another CoH clone like every other RTS game these days.
    Edited by UncleLou at 22/07/10 @ 11:27

  • CaptainTrips #26 2 years ago

    The original Starcraft is still my favourite game of all time - it defined the RTS genre and was quite revolutionary at it's time for having three races that were completely different from erach other, rather than the same races with different skins.

    I've clocked up around 2000 games in the beta - the multiplayer is very similar to the original, but that is understandable considering the pro-gamer scene in South Korea and how important is to gaming in the East. Where the revolution is this time is in the online matchmaking - I'm a competent RTS gamer (nothing more), and after I'd finished my placement matches my win/loss ratio was almost exactly 1:1, which considering the restrictive pool of a few thousand beta testers will only get better and more accurate over time after launch.

    I honestly believe that other PC developers will be trying to emulate Blizzard's online service in the coming years, much like they've been trying to emulate their MMO success over the past six years. Bring on the 27th! :)

  • Ryboy #27 2 years ago

    @FooAtari

    Ok, replace the word 'Steam' with any retailer you wish. Same logic applies.

  • mull #28 2 years ago

    That branch of Game smells. Not metaphorically - it literally honks of nerd sweat. Can't the (much bigger) HMV up the road hold it instead?