It's the end of an era... SC2 retires

Nody · 16-10-2020 8:36pm #1

To the StarCraft community,

StarCraft is one of a kind, and we’re committed to making sure that those of you who love this universe like we do have a home here for many years to come. With that in mind, we want to let you know about a development change we’re making for StarCraft II as we continue supporting it for the long-term.

As many of you know, Blizzard continues updating its games long after the initial release—some of you will remember that we were actively patching the original StarCraft more than 10 years after it first hit store shelves. This year we celebrated 10 years of StarCraft II with one of our largest-ever patches, with massive updates to the editor, Prestige Talents for Co-op Commanders, and gameplay improvements delivered to players worldwide.

We’re going to continue supporting StarCraft II in the same manner as we have with our previous longstanding games, such as Brood War, focusing primarily on what our core and competitive communities care about most. What this means is that we’re not going to be producing additional for-purchase content, such as Commanders and War Chests, but we will continue doing season rolls and necessary balance fixes moving forward. On that last note, we’re not planning a Q4 balance update given that we did one a few months ago, but as always, we do plan to continue doing them as needed in the future. StarCraft II esports, which is part of the highest echelon of professional competitive gaming, will also continue going strong as it has been through our partners ESL Gaming and GSL.

We know some of our players have been looking forward to some of the things we’re moving away from, 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.

StarCraft is core to Blizzard, and we’ve learned that it’s a game that can change the lives of people who devote themselves to it, whether as a player, content creator, streamer, or member of the community (or developer). The outcome of each match is in your hands 100%. To become better, you have to look inward, be honest about any flaws, and dedicate yourself to improving. StarCraft teaches us that that process of improvement can be a reward in itself, and it’s certainly taught us a lot at Blizzard over the years.

You are one of the most passionate, creative, and dedicated communities in all of gaming. We’re eternally grateful for your ongoing support, and we’ll keep you updated on any and all plans we have for future voyages into the Koprulu Sector.

Uhn dara ma'nakai,

Rob Bridenbecker

Original blog post is here. Now we get to look forward to yet another microtransaction hell hole of Activision style game as the "new Starcraft walking simulator mobile game". I hope the original devs who've left to form a new studio will come up with a good SC3 spiritual successor and it's yet another arrow to the knee for the game company we used to know in Blizzard.

pixelburp · 17-10-2020 12:29am

Honestly I would have assumed the support died years ago! Was there that much content added beyond the E sports ? I played Heart of the Swarm but was a grind to get through and TBH, the SC2 campaign hit the "destined chosen one" myth pretty hard. Preferred the simplicity of SC1s backstabbing and intrigue and found its sequel more tedious - thoguh the actual structure of missions were often amazingly dynamic for a RTS.

[Deleted User] · 17-10-2020 2:13am

Played it obsessively up until before Legacy of the Void was released. Absolutely loved learning 1v1 in it. Only managed to get to Diamond rank in that but got to Master in 2v2, 3v3 and 4v4 with pure cheese. Single player was okay. Story was horrific but missions were challenging and varied. Still think its the best e-sport to watch. I hope the genre makes a comeback somehow.

nix · 17-10-2020 2:28am

I loved the Original so was excited when SC2 was announced, that was short lived when they announced they will be drip feeding the game with multiple purchases for each race. So i waited until the "full game" was out awhile, got all "3 games" for like €25, played it, enjoyed it and then uninstalled it and haven't heard much about the game since until this post.

Blizzcon is gonna be early next year i believe, my guess is SC3 will be announced, or 1/3 of it anyway :pac::D

BeerWolf · 17-10-2020 6:40am

SC2 is 10 years old, not surprising.

I absolutely loved the Custom Maps scene, honestly couldn't give a damn of the standard Melee eSports stuff.

Hope a Starcraft 3 crops up in the future.

Nody · 17-10-2020 10:05am

pixelburp wrote: »

Honestly I would have assumed the support died years ago! Was there that much content added beyond the E sports ? I played Heart of the Swarm but was a grind to get through and TBH, the SC2 campaign hit the "destined chosen one" myth pretty hard. Preferred the simplicity of SC1s backstabbing and intrigue and found its sequel more tedious - thoguh the actual structure of missions were often amazingly dynamic for a RTS.

They did a big 10 year anniversery update a few months ago adding new challenges to every single player mission in the game with a reward for a new in game voice. They added new map building features about 6 months ago and new Co-Op commander and map in the last year, new Co-Op mutator in the last month, new Co-Op prestige unlocks in the last two months. Had battle chests (unlock new skins) with in the last 6 months.

Azza · 17-10-2020 2:07pm

I never played the first SC though I do own it. I think I also have access to the remastered version on battle.net.

Have played the first parts of SC2 in single player and I enjoyed them both. Have been meaning to pick up Legacy of the Void for years now but never got around to it. Not sure why fans of SC disliked SC2, didn't seem to do much wrong in my eyes.

pixelburp · 17-10-2020 2:44pm

I used to play SC2 religiously online, was about gold tier before my àss would start getting handed to me. Definitely the last gasp of online play for me before the over competitiveness soured the experience . Can't speak to what the pros thought of the game though, know there was a fair bit of resentment it wasn't all more like Brood War

Sephiroth_dude · 17-10-2020 6:33pm

Brought the collector's edition on release, never bothered with the other two faction campaign, was pissed that they separated them, were they any good?

Nody · 17-10-2020 8:40pm

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

Brought the collector's edition on release, never bothered with the other two faction campaign, was pissed that they separated them, were they any good?

I found zerg to be a bit samey, you're mostly fighting other zergs but there were exceptions to it and I enjoyed them all (incl. the ending even if cheesy).

It's the end of an era... SC2 retires

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