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StarCraft II Going Pre-Paid Overseas [UPDATED]

By - Source: Tom's Hardware US | B 25 comments

Blizzard is offering three prepaid passes to StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty in Southeast Asia.

Gamers in Southeast Asia will soon receive access to Blizzard’s blockbuster sci-fi RTS StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty without the need to purchase the full retail version.

According to a press release, PC gamers in Hong Kong/Macau, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand will have access to three game card options that grants 3 days, 7 days, and 30 days to the game. The passes will be used on the Southeast Asian Battle.net server for both StarCraft II singleplayer and multiplayer modes.

Friday Blizzard said that Southeast Asian gamers would also have access to a DVD starter kit for those who would rather not download the game client. The kit will include the disk, a 7-day pass, and a guide to creating a Battle.net account and installing the client.

Blizzard added that the prepaid game cards and DVD starter kit will be distributed across Southeast Asia in select Internet gaming cafes, convenience stores, and gaming retail shops. For more information about the StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty passes and where to buy them, head here.

Currently we’re still waiting on a response from Blizzard to see if the "tiered" pricing plan will come to the States.

Update: According to Bob Colayco, PR Manager at Blizzard, there are no current plans to bring this business model over to the U.S. Colayco indicated that Blizzard was giving customers in Southeast Asia another option to play the game if they did not want to fork out for the full price of the game up front. "This business model gives gamers in that region another option, if they just want to play for a week or a month," said Colayco. "We have different business models for different regions."

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  • 0 Hide
    lee3821 , October 26, 2010 2:17 AM
    Rolledfirst

    Eh, if you paid in USD, it wouldn't be worth it IMO...just drive up the retail price and increase demand for piracy.
  • 5 Hide
    Ragnar-Kon , October 26, 2010 2:17 AM
    Wait... what?

    Maybe I am completely misunderstanding this, but are we talking about renting Starcraft II for 3, 7, or 30 days? If so.... why?
  • Display all 25 comments.
  • 2 Hide
    dark_knight33 , October 26, 2010 2:22 AM
    Rolledfirst


    Certainly you aren't the first d0uche ever, fail.

    As big as S/C is in North America, S/C much *much* bigger in Asia. I think I read they have 3 TV channels dedicated to S/C I matches in S. Korea alone. Blizzard has tiered pricing, because people will pay for it there. More than that, because it's so much larger in the east, the cost to maintain the servers for online matches is that much higher, and they need a financial model to both support that, and make larger profits from it. Western Capitalism is wonderful isn't it?
  • 1 Hide
    impulsefire911 , October 26, 2010 2:23 AM
    LOL, well im pretty sure all those cafes have sc2 installed already with the full retail versions.
  • -1 Hide
    Darkerson , October 26, 2010 2:38 AM
    Rolledfirst

    Did you honestly accomplish anything from that? Other then getting thumbed down all to hell? Enjoy your eventual -20.
  • 0 Hide
    razzrap , October 26, 2010 3:11 AM
    Well this arrangement works for me. Students who are fans but have limited playing time can definitely make use of a prepaid option. Now, in terms of the price... that's another matter
  • 4 Hide
    Kaiser_25 , October 26, 2010 3:13 AM
    am i the only one that misses the gold old days of buying a game, and having full owenership over it, and NOT having to connect to the internet?like oh lets say SC1, or Diablo 1...or D2, or warcraft series, i wish we would get away from this online trend stuff.
  • 0 Hide
    Vestin , October 26, 2010 4:06 AM
    Ragnar-KonWait... what?Maybe I am completely misunderstanding this, but are we talking about renting Starcraft II for 3, 7, or 30 days? If so.... why?

    Because people in some regions prefer this model. And, no - this probably won't be coming to either USA or Europe, since the people here prefer paying a lot once.
  • 1 Hide
    dEAne , October 26, 2010 7:51 AM
    Some countries don't like this idea.
  • 1 Hide
    mchuf , October 26, 2010 11:57 AM
    This is just the first step. Kotick has been wanting a pay as you go online model for Activision games and this looks close to what he's been hinting at. You can bet that Blizzard will be doing this with Diablo III.
  • 1 Hide
    accolite , October 26, 2010 1:30 PM
    Well they can bet for me not to buy their games if this is the model they are following, damn money grubbing Kotick, makes me feel sorry that I even bothered to waste my money on SC2.
  • -2 Hide
    hok , October 26, 2010 2:38 PM
    i'm really starting to hate blizzard with a passion
  • 1 Hide
    gm0n3y , October 26, 2010 4:25 PM
    Why not? Options are good. I would personally like to be able to 'rent' games for a few days before I buy them.
  • 0 Hide
    mchuf , October 26, 2010 5:07 PM
    gm0n3yWhy not? Options are good. I would personally like to be able to 'rent' games for a few days before I buy them.


    To me, the big worry is not the fact that tiered pricing becomes another option. But that it becomes the norm.
  • 1 Hide
    gm0n3y , October 26, 2010 5:30 PM
    mchufTo me, the big worry is not the fact that tiered pricing becomes another option. But that it becomes the norm.

    Fair enough. If Starcraft 2 changed to a monthly fee, I definitely stop playing.
  • 1 Hide
    GNCD , October 26, 2010 6:55 PM
    I think this is a good thing for us here is Asia. Not everyone here can afford a PC that will run SC at the highest settings, as well as a fast internet connection. Even if the game itself is affordable, the machine to play it is not. And you still need a fast connection to enjoy multiplayer, which can also be expensive. Most cafes do have decent machines and fast connections. I myself go there for my online multiplayer fix. With this pre-paid scheme, Blizzard would definitely rake in a lot of cash and SC1 players can finally move on to SC2. Blizzard did their homework.
  • -1 Hide
    gewehr37 , October 26, 2010 6:59 PM
    blizz is trying to change everything into "WoW" style, so monthly fee can be collected. Too bad that WoW makes SO much money for them, now they can truely show greedy nature of a company
  • 2 Hide
    jellico , October 26, 2010 6:59 PM
    Rolledfirst

    I friggin hate people that do this. TH mods should ban dorks that pull this crap as they are no better than spammers. Only slightly better are weenies who post a terse, hastily written, vague comment with the exact same intent... being the first to post to a new topic.
  • 1 Hide
    gm0n3y , October 26, 2010 7:54 PM
    jellicoI friggin hate people that do this. TH mods should ban dorks that pull this crap as they are no better than spammers. Only slightly better are weenies who post a terse, hastily written, vague comment with the exact same intent... being the first to post to a new topic.

    I feel the same way, but just downrank them. Don't feed the trolls.
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