Starcraft II gets July release date

By Kyle Orland Published 4 May, 2010

Download release to follow retail.

Blizzard has announced that Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty will be available in stores worldwide on 27th July.

Those who want to download the game from Blizzard's digital download store will have to wait until "shortly after" the retail launch, according to the announcement.

The game's release will also see the launch of the new battle.net, announced early last year. A battle.net account and a live Internet connection will be required to play the game, even in single-player campaign mode.

In case you were worried the worldwide release might not actually include your specific region, Blizzard clarified that the date applies to "United States, Canada, Europe, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Mexico, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau".

Comments (20) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • UncleLou #1 2 years ago

    July? Nice, sooner than I expected. Bit of a strange release date, in the middle of the summer. Not that I mind! :)

  • zoweewowee #2 2 years ago

    nuclear launch detected ! finally, just a few weeks more to wait !

  • ChaK #3 2 years ago

    may I say I don't like Starcraft or I may get banned in hell for ever?

    on a side note too bad not more games come out in summer, those are 2 boring months gaming-wise

    Edited by ChaK at 04/05/10 @ 08:28

  • M4RV #4 2 years ago

    A battle.net account and a live Internet connection will be required to play the game, even in single-player campaign mode.

    Ubisoft will thank you for that shirley.

  • SnoppleMonster #5 2 years ago

    A battle.net account and a live Internet connection will be required to play the game, even in single-player campaign mode.

    Not quite..... you will also have the option of doing a one off registration and then going offline..

    Kotaku
    Edited by SnoppleMonster at 04/05/10 @ 09:01

  • qoobah #6 2 years ago

    Only Blizz can release a game in the middle of a summer with complete disregard of sales, customer availability etc.
    Edited by qoobah at 04/05/10 @ 08:50

  • reality_cheque #7 2 years ago

    This had better be good else I might cry :(

  • bad09 #8 2 years ago

    Being a big console gamer for years I don't really know much about SC. I might be persuaded to try it.....

    "A battle.net account and a live Internet connection will be required to play the game, even in single-player campaign mode."


    .....oh, no thanks I'll pass, say hello to Ubiscum for me and don't let the door hit you on your way out. I've said it before and I mean it if this is the way the whole industry goes it's bye bye buying new games.

  • j-bo #9 2 years ago

    "
    .....oh, no thanks I'll pass, say hello to Ubiscum for me and don't let the door hit you on your way out. I've said it before and I mean it if this is the way the whole industry goes it's bye bye buying new games."

    See Snopplemonster's post.

    Also, aside from Ubi being utter muppets and ballsing up the servers, generic annoyance and outrage aside, I'm not sure if this is really such a big deal. I can't remember the last time my pc or ps3 wasn't connected to the internet to be honest..

    A lot of the games I play are online anyway, so I really don't get the outrage bweing flung around at this.

  • bad09 #10 2 years ago

    @j-bo

    Ah cheers I missed his post, offline mode means I might check it out, like I said I don't really know much about it but many seem excited.

    Oh and it is a big deal if your connection is not up to scratch with little possibility of improving it, I'm moving in with my Mrs very shortly and her connection is a lot of trouble sadly (sometimes I can't even listen to internet radio without it cutting out constantly) with no cable available we don't have many options. With that in mind there is no way in hell I'm investing in ANY SP game I (possibly) cannot play at times just because of my internet. It's not the way to go and these gits need to get it into their thick skulls.

    Remember, just because you are OK connection wise doesn't mean everyone is.

  • VicViper #11 2 years ago

    @epilogue
    Well on that point there, unless that was crazy sarcasm, people were forced in to being slaves, I doubt blizzard is going to force you to get their game. The two things are in no way comparable and I'm fairly sure that sentence is insulting to a fair load of people.

    On the point of getting a battle net account well if you want to play online as its their servers you use, can't really jusitify it being required for sp unless theres some sort of cloud save thing.

  • sneetch #12 2 years ago

    @Epilogue
    Welcome "1984". Times come in which you can't do aynthing without giving out your adress and name, which are valuable informations. I just don't want an account for battle.net. I want to play the game, that's all. I am really sorry for people who don't see a problem in this. There were times when people had a problem with being a slave.

    /golfclap

    Very well done. In order to avoid being a "slave" I assume you also don't have a broadband or phone account, electricity or gas supply, insurance or any bank accounts, you also have no passport and I'd guess no fingerprints (but a damn nice tin-foil hat)? To be honest though I thought slavery meant something other than "has created an online account using real information", it seems odd to me that people would be kidnapped and dragged halfway across the world against their will just to force them to create online accounts.

    Have you ever considered giving false information? Tell them you're Juan VonMuscle, a Sea-Turtle Wrestler from Belize or something. Unless you really are Juan VonMuscle, in which case I apologise for blowing your cover.

  • bad09 #13 2 years ago

    "it seems odd to me that people would be kidnapped and dragged halfway across the world against their will just to force them to create online accounts. "

    Just wait for Ubiscums next DRM ;)

  • FortysixterUK #14 2 years ago

    errr...hang on...did anyone else notice that the article reads that an internet connection is required to play the game even in singleplayer? WTF ?
    Oh well, it'll soon get hacked for those who oly want the single player campaign.

  • sneetch #15 2 years ago

    @FortysixterUK

    Scroll up and read SnoppleMonster's post, no hack is required, you don't need to be on-line to play.

  • Canyarion #16 2 years ago

    @SnoppleMonster
    Thanks, that's what I wanted to hear. I don't want to be online while playing the Campaign.

  • cen4pgb #17 2 years ago

    @bad09

    You do reaslise Starcraft II will sell big, and mainly becasue of its MP, so a few lost SP peeps, who for whatever reason cant or wont get good enough net.

    Have you tried calling up her net provider and getting them to check the gain on the line, and other such issues?

  • bad09 #18 2 years ago

    @cen4pgb

    No I didn't realise that, as I said I don't know much about the series. MP would be of no interest to me anyway as I rarely play online these days, so if I dipped my toes it would be for the SP. It's fine anyway as I said I missed the post from SnoppleMonster about EG being incorrect and it actually having an offline mode.

    No point talking to providers on my girlfriends connection, communal lines in a block of flats so it's shit whoever she goes with (man I'm gonna miss my Virgin connection), it's not the worst connection but it sure 'ain't good enough for me to waste money on draconian DRM games that may cut out. It's the same with her Sky, they gave her a free Sky+ and she can't use it because of the communal connection which is old and only accommodates one Sky input. We are stuck until we move elsewhere sadly :(
    Edited by bad09 at 04/05/10 @ 15:54

  • UncleLou #19 2 years ago

    There were times when people had a problem with being a slave.

    Say what?

  • FooAtari #20 2 years ago

    @sneetch

    Very well done. In order to avoid being a "slave" I assume you also don't have a broadband or phone account, electricity or gas supply, insurance or any bank accounts, you also have no passport and I'd guess no fingerprints (but a damn nice tin-foil hat)?

    While the slave comment was certainly OTT you are seriously comparing life essentials such as electricity and gas to owning a game?

    The reason for having to give your personal details to a gas or electricity supplier are obvious and justifiable.

    However I see no obvious or justifiable for reasons for a developer or publisher to require these just so I can play a game offline.