StarCraft 2 'in the Final Stretch,' Says Blizzard

Blizzard is "in the final stretch" of the work on its first StarCraft II release, according to lead developer Dustin Browder. Browder, known to the community as "Cavez," dropped the tidbit while answering frequently asked questions over on BlizzBlues.

"When we know a date (for anything) for certain, we'll let you know," he wrote. "We don't want to lie about the Beta, and we don't even want to lie about the next Battle Report... Let's be realistic. Our target dates are not something we hit more than half the time."

Browder assured fans that "unless something crazy happens, the [multiplayer] Beta is going to happen this year." Last week, Blizzard COO Paul Sam noted the beta would hit in the "months ahead," packing an early version of the new Battle.net architecture.

At the time, Sams added that a "frontline" Blizzard game should arrive this year, but did not provide any details as to the game's identity. Last year, the studio revealed it was splitting the PC RTS sequel into a trilogy of games that could be years apart.