Some would call it the end of an era, as another of Blizzard’s flagship titles joins the company’s other classics in the hall of fame. On this special occasion, we would like to have a closer look at the state of the game, the content that StarCraft II has available right now, and we would also like to speculate on what the future of StarCraft might be. Grab some tea because there is a lot to talk about.
Ending the development
On October 15th 2020, in a news post on their official website, the company behind such hits as Warcraft and Diablo revealed to the world that they will no longer create new, paid content for StarCraft II, such as co-op Commanders and War Chests (they didn’t mention mission packs, such as the Nova Covert Ops, but it is safe to say we won’t be getting those either). On a more positive note, the company highlighted their commitment to the series, stating they will continue to support the esports scene through their partners, and provide fixes and balance changes. Stepping down from creating new content will make it possible for the developers to consider the future of the StarCraft series.
A huge amount of varied content, now for everyone to enjoy
First, it is worth mentioning that three years prior to this announcement, StarCraft II went free-to-play, opening the gates to the Koprulu Sector for thousands of new players. If you haven’t yet tried the game, now is a good time to jump in and enjoy most of its features. The only content locked behind a price tag are two out of the three official campaigns, the Nova Covert Ops mission pack, higher levels of co-op Commanders and some cosmetic elements.
If you are new to the game, you may want to begin by playing the three epic campaigns, the first one – Wings of Liberty – is free. If you wish to experience the competitive aspect as soon as possible, you may want to review the training section in the Versus tab, followed by a few games against AI (solo or with others), and then there are also solo Challenges that are a bit hidden and can be accessed by navigating to the Wings of Liberty campaign. This last feature tests how well you understand the more intricate aspects of SC2 meta.
The competitive scene of StarCraft II is standing strong. You can still log in at any time and expect many people present in the general chat window. The queues for versus games are not very long, even for 4v4 matches – finding such a game took us about 3 minutes of waiting and we are talking midday hours on an EU server when most people are either at school or at work. More than 10 years after release, this is a very impressive result. The automated tournaments are still up and running and you can always play Unranked matches if you want to experiment or practice. You can rewatch your games or the games of others solo or with friends in the replay section to learn new tactics. Many clans do this on a regular basis to develop their skills.
- continue to part 2
