Today, the sequel to one of the universally acclaimed games of all time turns a year old. Wings of Liberty, the first installment of the StarCraft II Trilogy, publicly launched at midnight PST on July 27, 2010. Since that early July morning, the StarCraft franchise has solidified itself at the top of the RTS genre's pantheon. StarCraft II driven e-Sports has flourished and millions more gamers have embraced StarCraft into their lives. Within the first 48 hours, Wings of Liberty sold over 1.5 million copies, making it the fastest-selling strategy title of all time. Despite significant criticism leveled against the game's storyline and Battle.net service, significant improvements have been promised and the service is continuing to evolve. As is the community, we have seen the rise of streaming, the proliferation of casters, and the dedication of an community bound by the love of a game. Today we celebrate StarCraft II and the first chapter in legacy.
The StarCraft II Development Team marked the occasion by posting a short retrospective on the StarCraft II Community page. Here is a short excerpt:
StarCraft is more than just StarCraft II, it is a culture that has been with us for over a decade. It’s a game and a world that we are honored to be part of. We’ve been hard at work making sure that the sequel holds up to the high standard of excellence we’ve set for ourselves. We released 14 patches since the game’s launch, including many small balance adjustments and a ton of improvements too. We’ve added brand-new Battle.net features like the Master and Grandmaster Leagues, custom game improvements, chat channels and more, and we remain hard at work on further improvements.
We’re not even close to resting on our laurels and we remain just as fiercely dedicated to StarCraft II today as we were the day it launched. Today we have a Blizzard DoTA playtest. Tomorrow we are going to play the first part of the Heart of the Swarm campaign (complete with cutscenes!). We continue to work on expanding multiplayer and improving Battle.Net. We can’t wait for BlizzCon this year: not only will we get to meet with players from all over the world and make some exciting announcements, but we’ll also get a chance to watch some of StarCraft II’s best players go head to head live in both the Global Battle.net Invitational and the GSL Finals.
So, we wish you a happy birthday, StarCraft II. You had an amazing first year, and we’ll do our best to make sure that you’ll have many more great years to come.
To celebrate, the StarCraft II Development Team posted pictures of the cakes they enjoyed:
As you can see, Blizzard is hard at work on the second installment of the StarCraft II trilogy, Heart of the Swarm. So whoever you are, wherever you are, raise a glass to another great year of StarCraft.
Sources:
Battle.net - Happy Birthday, StarCraft II!
Facebook.com - StarCraft II One-Year Anniversary
