In a lengthy post on the Starcraft 2 site Blizzard gives an in-depth preview of the upcoming overhaul and relaunch of Battle.net. As has been talked about in priro reports, the service promotes four key components: an always-connected experience, a competitive arena accessible by everyone, tightly integrated community features, and seamless support for mods and community-created content. Along with describing these elements in a little me detail, the post includes some screen captures of the interface that give an idea of how it will all come together.

But maybe the most exciting part of this post is what it doesn't say but strongly hints at. Back in August, Blizzard pinned the delay of Starcraft 2 into 2010 on the time needed to make this massive upgrade to Battle.net. The intro to the page says "Battle.net is about to undergo the greatest update in its long and storied history." Judging from the polish in what they're showing "about" looks pretty soon and that should pave the way to our getting the Starcraft 2 beta.

Oh, and it's pretty hard to miss that welcome to the Starcraft 2 beta screen in the video below. The date on the screen reads January 22 with 60 games available. Surely it can't be much longer before we're looking at a much larger number of games from the comfort of our own gaming rigs.

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Update: Though the specifications emerged via a now-removed Blizzard Support Page, the company now says the below requirements are not accurate. In addition, Chandler55 points out that the specs are near-identical to those of World of Warcraft, reinforcing Blizzard's claim that the posting contained placeholder information.

Original Blizzard has unveiled the system requirements for the closed beta version of its much-anticipated and long-coming PC real-time strategy sequel StarCraft 2.

Of course, exactly when the beta will begin has yet be disclosed.

At last official word, Blizzard expected the first StarCraft 2 release, Wings of Liberty, to hit store shelves within the first half of 2010. Two other games, the Zerg-centric "Heart of the Swarm" and Protoss-heavy "Legacy of the Void," will later round out the trilogy.

Minimum
Operating System
Windows XP / XP64 (Service Pack 3)
Windows Vista / Vista64 (service Pack 1)
Windows 7 Home Premium
Processor
Intel Pentium IV 1.3GHz... Read more

A look at the current state of StarCraft 2's Protoss Mothership has emerged via a short story, showing off its Cloaking Field and Black Hole Vortex abilities.

The footage could potentially be from the singleplayer campaign of the StarCraft 2 trilogy's first instalment 'Wings of Liberty,' as Blizzard has revealed that a Protoss "mini-campaign" features in the PC real-time strategy's central Terran campaign.

While the most recent launch window given for StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty is the first half of this year, that was before the beta test failed to start in 2009 as had been planned--and Blizzard has said it expects testing will last for four to six months.

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A Protoss "mini-campaign" will be part of the Terran-focused singleplayer campaign in StarCraft 2's first instalment 'Wings of Liberty,' Blizzard has revealed.

"I can confirm that there will be a Protoss mini-campaign that lets you control Protoss units," writes European RTS community manager Stefanie Gwinner in a forum post.

"This part of the campaign mode is of course way shorter than the Terran part, but it is very fun to have a very different playstyle to add even more variety to the game," she explains, though "you won't be using all units or getting to know buildings and upgrades."

Gwinner later clarified that "this is not a separate campaign set apart from the Terran campaign. These are missions in the campaign where you play as Protoss."

StarCraft 2's full Protoss singleplayer campaign will arrive in the third instalment 'Legacy of the Void,' while the Zerg go second with 'Heart of the Swarm.' All three races are still playable in multiplayer, whose much-anticipated beta failed to make its planned 2009 launch. SC2: Wings of Liberty was most recently scheduled for the first half of this year.

Following up on word that Blizzard's Diablo III won't arrive in 2010, studio design VP Rob Pardo has admitted that the delay-heavy studio behind World of Warcraft and StarCraft has "always announced all of our games too early."

"We realize that and go, 'You know what? Next time we're not going to do that,'" he explained to Techland, as noticed by Big Download. "And then we always fail at that. But I'd rather fail at that than fail at making the game great."

Diablo III was formally revealed in 2008, with the only concrete word on its arrival being repeated statements that the action-RPG is not due in 2010. However, the studio expects to release the first entry in the StarCraft II trilogy, Wings of Liberty, within the first half of 2010, with World of Warcraft expansion Cataclysm also due in the year.

"We've been wrong [on release dates] for as long as I can remember," Pardo added, joking that "when we announce [a game] we just go, 'Here's the game we're working on, we're going to start talking about it and who knows when it ships.'"

Blizzard has released new StarCraft 2 screenshots showing gorgeous in-engine cinematics from the PC real-time strategy sequel as well as regular gameplay.

Many of the gameplay features show early campaign mission 'The Evacuation of Agria,' where players defend colonists fleeing a Zerg invasion. A feature on the StarCraft 2 website explains the evolution of the mission and the principles behind it.

Blizzard also shines the spotlight on multiplayer, with overviews of two 1v1 maps and a Q&A session covering the design process and impact of new units and features.

The PC real-time strategy sequel is scheduled to arrive on PC in the first half of 2010. A multiplayer beta was planned to launch this year, with Blizzard recently telling Shacknews "we're working hard to release the beta as soon as it's ready."

Teasing that "the single player campaign mode will have some surprise custom units," Blizzard has unleashed a lone new StarCraft II screenshot dubbed "SCIIBrutalisk.jpg."

In related news, the developer recently noted via Twitter that it has begun to revamp mission briefings with new dialogue and is almost done with updates to "several portions" of the game's official website.

The PC RTS sequel is due out within the first half of 2010, with a multiplayer beta due before launch. Blizzard previously expressed confidence that the beta would begin within 2009, though it recently told Shacknews that "we have not yet announced a start date for the beta" and "we're working hard to release the beta as soon as it's ready."

In the months leading up to BlizzCon, it was anybody's guess as to what the new Battle.net might look like. During interviews, Blizzard developers mostly mumbled about matchmaking, leagues and other features, but were always quick to note that everything was still up in the air. But following the official unveiling of the Battle.net feature list, Blizzard isn't mumbling anymore. On top of the Real ID system and other Xbox Live-esque features, the new Battle.net will also see Blizzard experimenting in radical areas of online service. A prime example is the post-launch StarCraft II Marketplace, which--in addition to supporting the upload of free maps--will allow users to sell high-quality maps and mods, a monetary incentive largely untested in the industry.

The man behind Blizzard's big online push is Greg Canessa, former head of Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade division. During an interview with Shacknews this weekend, Canessa touched on topics such as the marketplace, console potential, LAN play, and whether we might see games other than Blizzard's on Battle.net in the future. ... Read more

Battle.net developer Greg Canessa says that Blizzard is actively working on a LAN-like solution to include for Battle.net play in StarCraft II.

"We are working on solutions with regard to things we can do to maintain connectivity to Battle.net in some way, but also provide a great quality connection between players," said Canessa.

Blizzard recently announced that traditional LAN play would not be included in the game, with offline play only being allowed in the singleplayer campaign.

I asked Canessa whether the solution his team is working on might... Read more

Battlestar Galactica veteran Tricia Helfer will voice Zerg queen Kerrigan in Blizzard's StarCraft II.

The news broke out of BlizzCon's StarCraft II lore panel, which promised a special guest. Helfer appeared on stage with much of the title's voice cast.

Helfer is becoming a videogame voice regular, with credits on the upcoming Halo: ODST and past titles such as Spider-Man: Web of Shadows and Command and Conquer 3.

Blizzard has released some crisp official images showing off its work on the upcoming revamp of Battle.net.

The service will launch in early 2010 alongside StarCraft II. For more details, check out our Battle.net writeup from earlier today.

A future StarCraft II Marketplace service was announced today at BlizzCon. The Battle.net store, planned to be added to StarCraft II after the game's launch, will allow map makers to publish both free and "premium" maps.

Premium maps will carry a fee, meaning mod and map makers can sell their content directly on Battle.net.

"We want to make sure that the best amateur game designers out there are making maps for StarCraft 2, and not for Kongregate or Steam or anything like that," said Blizzard's Rob Pardo.

"Think about it like this: something like Defense of the Ancients, I think, would be something like a free map because it doesn't have a lot of original content," he added, while noting that Blizzard made the announcement today in order to give map makers time to start thinking about ideas.

"We totally intend for there to be a lot of free content," he assured the crowd.

Blizzard revealed new details on the upcoming revision of its multiplayer service Battle.net during BlizzCon today.

"Battle.net has actually got more players on it than World of Warcraft," Blizzard's Rob Pardo reminded the crowd at the beginning of his talk. The service has 12 million players to WoW's 11.5 million.

The new Battle.net will feature standard panes for news, profiles/avatars, and achievements. The biggest news was the new "Real ID" system, which allows players to communicate across all of Blizzard's games in Xbox Live fashion.

Real ID also links achievements across all of Blizzard's games and characters, meaning players won't need to re-earn achievements on one character that they earned on another.

Pardo went into detail on custom map support. Map makers can ... Read more

The flood of assets from BlizzCon 2009 continues below with the latest screenshots from anticipated sequel StarCraft II, which developer Blizzard recently pushed into 2010.

There's still a chance you could be playing StarCraft II before the year's end, however, as Blizzard today said that it expects to kick off the multiplayer beta before 2009 is out.

Much to the chagrin of those who were expecting Diablo III to arrive next year, Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime has confirmed that just-revealed World of Warcraft expansion Cataclysm and StarCraft II are the two titles the company expects to hit in 2010.

Morhaime made the revelation while talking with BlizzCon Live hosts Geoff Keighley and Kat Hunter, with more details on Blizzard's projects expected as BlizzCon continues.

Though StarCraft II was recently delayed into 2010, Blizzard is still confident that the promised multiplayer beta will indeed kick off before the end of the year. "I'm confident the beta will start this year," Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaim told BlizzCon Live Stream host Geoff Keighley in an interview following today's press conference.

"We don't have a date yet, but that is a focus--we're working on getting the beta ready," Morhaime added. "We don't want to put it out too early."

After a lengthy hands-on session with the StarCraft II campaign, I got a chance to sit down with lead producer Chris Sigaty and rifle a couple dozen questions at him.

We touched on a few obvious subjects, such as beta time frames and release goals, not knowing at the time that the game would be officially delayed only two weeks later. We also delved into some finer points, like the new challenge mode, the editor, the upcoming expansions, and why it's taken so long for StarCraft II to hit shelves.

Shack: There was a pretty strong reaction to the news that there will be no LAN support in StarCraft II. Were you expecting that?

Chris Sigaty: Yeah, I think any time that people hear news like that, they're going to be upset, or some people will be certainly. The really hard thing about is the primary reason we made it--and it's a tough decision--are some of the things we intend to do with Battle.net. And really a sense of being connected all the time, and whether you are a competitive player or a casual player--we're adding things in there that try and enhance that experience by being connected. So that's really the primary driver behind it, but we can't show that driver, so I think people are reacting to that in the way they will, and they don't have any information. Read on..

Ever since Blizzard announced that it would be splitting the three StarCraft II campaigns into separate games, fans have been worried the studio will abandon its trend of $30 expansions and charge full price for the new games.

Producer Chris Sigaty responded to those concerns during a recent interview with Shacknews, telling us that the team is viewing the games as traditional Blizzard expansions, and not full sequels.

"We effectively look at it internally as expansions," said Sigaty. "So we'll see what that means for the price--we're not just going to raise it and call it that for the purposes of that. We would need to offer the same content."

Sigaty's guess is that the two expansions--the Zerg-centric... Read more

To go along with the first impressions of the StarCraft 2 singleplayer campaign, we've also got a bunch of SP screenshots and video to share. Check out over four minutes of singleplayer footage below, in addition to some various captures from the missions described in our hands-on preview.

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It's easy to look at a screenshot and think that StarCraft II hasn't changed much from the original game, but in playing recent builds, it's getting further and further away from its progenitor. Case in point, several standard StarCraft units have been axed in favor of a more diverse selection of new, specialized units. The Terran Firebat has been replaced by the Marauder, the Medic by the Medivac Dropship, and the Protoss Dragoon by the Stalker and Immortal units.

But following a play session at Blizzard some weeks ago, I've learned that several of these classic units will still show up in the Wings of Liberty campaign.... Read more