Blizzard Details Heart of the Swarm Launch Events

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By Kevin Parrish
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The party starts at 3 a.m. PDT on March 11.

On Tuesday Blizzard revealed its launch plans for StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm, reporting that as with the original release, launch parties will take place here in the States, France, Australia, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Russia, Brazil and Mexico. These will begin in the evening of March 11, hosted by key retail partners and Blizzard developers.

To kick things off and follow the launch celebration as it spreads across the planet, Blizzard said that in conjunction with Twitch TV, the company will cohost a special 21-hour launch broadcast with eSports personality and commentator Sean "Day[9]" Plott. The stream will start at 3 a.m. PDT on March 11, and give viewers the opportunity to watch the Australia, South Korea, France and US launch events live.

"Viewers will also be treated to additional exclusive content, including community-created videos and 'King of the Beta' tournament matches between top pro gamers, hosted by Day[9], who’ll be transmitting from a bunker deep inside Blizzard’s Irvine HQ," Blizzard said.

Here in the States, the kickoff party will take place in The Great Wheel Court of the Irvine Spectrum Mall in Irvine, California. Festivities will start at 9:00 p.m. PDT (March 11) and feature special guest hosts from the StarCraft 2 and eSports community, including commentators Day[9] and Mike "Husky" Lamond.

"Live eSports show matches will be played by top pro gamers from the US and South Korea, and demonstrations will introduce the crowd to some of the powerful new features included in StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm," Blizzard said. "A series of epic prize giveaways will round out the celebration, and when the clock strikes midnight, gamers will be able to pick up their copies of the expansion as well as have them autographed by members of the StarCraft 2 development team."

Can't make it to the California event? Not to worry: thousands of stores worldwide will be open at midnight to welcome players and help roll out the next blockbuster StarCraft 2 chapter.

"The StarCraft community has been anticipating Heart of the Swarm for a long time," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment, who is probably looking forward to the flood of revenue the expansion will bring. "I believe you will find it was worth the wait."

For more information about the launch broadcast feed, head here.

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Kevin Parrish
21 Comments Comment from the forums
  • edogawa
    I love SC, but man do I sometimes wish I were a Korean. I'm not that good at SC, but I do enjoy and love it, especially custom maps.
    Reply
  • hok
    I don't think its about being korean... its the environment and players you can train with...
    Reply
  • atavax
    so why exactly did they need to break up starcraft 2 into 3 games?
    Reply
  • samuelspark
    I'm fairly good at Starcraft. Playing both Protoss and Terran on a high diamond level. Looking forward to what HOTS brings to the table as well as exploring the campaign. Reading the books got me pumped up!
    Reply
  • tomfreak
    atavaxso why exactly did they need to break up starcraft 2 into 3 games?money obviously, but who cares SC2 is not my type of games anyway.
    Reply
  • Rur
    atavaxso why exactly did they need to break up starcraft 2 into 3 games?
    People still whine about this?

    They're called expansions, StarCraft 1 had the same thing! So did WarCraft III and every other Blizzard game. Why did they have to break these games into 2? hur dur

    I'd rather get 3 deep and unique campaigns then 6-9 short and shallow ones. If you can't afford 60 bucks every 2+ years for these incredible games, go get a job.
    Reply
  • nolarrow
    Snooze, wake me up when warcraft 4 is announced and no I don't mean another WoW expansion.
    Reply
  • largg
    samuelsparkI'm fairly good at Starcraft. Playing both Protoss and Terran on a high diamond level. Looking forward to what HOTS brings to the table as well as exploring the campaign. Reading the books got me pumped up!
    Profit.
    Reply
  • gilgamex
    RurPeople still whine about this?They're called expansions, StarCraft 1 had the same thing! So did WarCraft III and every other Blizzard game. Why did they have to break these games into 2? hur durI'd rather get 3 deep and unique campaigns then 6-9 short and shallow ones. If you can't afford 60 bucks every 2+ years for these incredible games, go get a job.
    Heart of the swarm is actually $40! Plus people don't process the fact that it's not so easy to whip up 3 completely lengthy and distinct campaigns, with all the cinematics, graphical effects and all else. People just expected it because SC1 did that, but those campaigns weren't nearly as hard or time consuming to create than what Blizzard is pulling off now.

    It also brings you on a journey so to speak. You could even compare it to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, they could have just make a 9 hour epic all together (for this example just imagine thats a viable choice) but no you make each one, seperate it by a year or 2 and develop it, keeps interest alive and you can also learn and try new things along the way. Build that tension, makes people eager to see how it all works out. And in Starcraft 2's case they get to introduce new units each time, and try something new like Brood War.

    Reply
  • wdmfiber
    I remember the advertising campaign for SCII WoL (Wings of Liberty) back in 2010/11. A couple of Boeing 747's in the Korean Airlines fleet had Starcraft II and a picture of Jim Raynor painted on the fuselage.

    Since then Blizz has sold several million copies of SCII at ~approx $50 a piece. The total$$ wouldn't even be enough to by one new 747 (350+ million dollars).

    With Exxon Mobile, Apple, Microsoft(and many others) making 10's of billions every 4 months(financial quarter). I'm just glad Blizzard is still turning out the expansion packs even though profit margins are small. I'll be buying HotS on March 12th. Didn't buy Aliens, Colonial Marines(for example)... as it's terrible (just another "let down" really).

    Anyway, thanks Blizzards for all the hard work, attention to detail and continued commitment to Starcraft.
    Reply