Starcraft 2 development is coming to a close following its tenth anniversary
Balance and competitive patches will continue. There won't be any more for-purchase content like War Chests and Commanders.
It’s shocking to think that StarCraft 2 has already been kicking around for over 10 years. That’s over a decade of constructing additional Pylons, Zerg rushing, and all the other good memes that came out of one of the last bastions of good and real-time strategy. StarCraft players have been keeping the love going throughout years upon years of creative strategies and an esports scene that was an essential fixture of the annual BlizzCon lineup. Unfortunately, it appears to be coming to an end as Blizzard cut development down to balance patches and little more.
Blizzard made the announcement about sunsetting StarCraft 2 on the company website on October 16, 2020. There will be no more Commanders, War Chests, or other for-purchase content made for StarCraft 2. Furthermore, as StarCraft 2 just got a pretty large patch that brought Co-op Commander Prestige Talents, map editor expansions, and major gameplay improvements to the game, it will apparently be forgoing a late year balance patch. Despite this, Blizzard promised that balancing and other quality-of-life updates will come to StarCraft 2 to support the competitive scene.
Executive Producer Rob Bridenbecker also added in the lengthy message, that the draw of development from StarCraft 2 is a part of moving forward with the franchise.
“We know some of our players have been looking forward to some of the things we’re moving away from,” Bridenbecker wrote. “But the good news is this change will free us up to think about what’s next, not just with regard to StarCraft II, but for the StarCraft universe as a whole.”
It feels questionable whether we’ll get to see more StarCraft anytime soon regardless. In a scene that produced so much good competition, and legends like Geoff “iNcontroL” Robinson, it feels almost wrong to see Blizzard moving away from arguably one of the last standing and popular RTS franchises in gaming. Heavens know Blizzard didn’t do the genre any favors with Warcraft 3: Reforged.
Regardless, as Blizzard draws the curtain on this classic and amazing decade of space real-time strategy, we can at least look forward to competition in the StarCraft 2 community remaining supported. You must still construct additional pylons, after all.
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replyTJ Denzer posted a new article, Starcraft 2 development is coming to a close following its tenth anniversary
