StarCraft Heart of the Swarm Playable at MLG Event in June

StarCraft 2 junkies anxious to get a taste of the next installment can get a little hands-on tease in June if they're attending the Major League Gaming's (MLG) Pro Circuit Spring Championship event. It will take place from June 8 to June 10 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California and feature a large number of public demo stations that will allow attendees to try out the latest multiplayer build of Heart of the Swarm in advance of the upcoming beta test.

Say what? A beta test is coming soon? Unfortunately, Blizzard didn't offer any additional details concerning that little golden nugget, but instead talked about the "expansion set" in general.

"Heart of the Swarm is the first expansion set to Blizzard Entertainment's sci-fi real-time strategy game StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty," the company said on Friday. "The expansion will feature an all-new single-player campaign that will allow players to evolve their swarms with unique, campaign-only units and abilities. Kerrigan, the former Queen of Blades, will play a major role in each of the campaign battles as a powerful hero. Over the course of the campaign, she'll grow in strength and earn potent new abilities. New multiplayer units and maps will add new dimensions of strategic gameplay, and the expansion will include new features and upgrades to the Battle.net online platform."

As for the MLG event in June, Blizzard says StarCraft 2 pro-gamers from around the world will battle for $76,000 in prize money at MLG's Spring Championship with the first place finisher taking home $25,000. The Anaheim event will also feature the USA national finals for Blizzard Entertainment's StarCraft 2 World Championship Series.

"Participants in the USA Nationals will vie for $30,000 in prize money as well as invitations to the upcoming North America continental finals of the StarCraft 2 World Championship Series," Blizzard said. "The top finishers in that event will represent their countries in StarCraft 2 at the Battle.net World Championship event taking place later this year in Asia."

Details on attending the MLG Spring Championship are available here. The pass costs $35, and is not game-specific, allowing spectators to watch everything from the time doors open on Friday afternoon, to the end of the competition on Sunday night. But is an early hands-on with Heart of the Swarm worth the $35 if you're really not into watching the eSports?

Those who can't make it in person can still catch all the action via live streams online, Blizzard said.

  • DroKing
    I wonder how much they plan to charge for the expansion. Better be 20 at most because 60 for original was hefty enough!
    Reply
  • DroKingI wonder how much they plan to charge for the expansion. Better be 20 at most because 60 for original was hefty enough!
    Most triple A titles cost $60, I got more value out of sc2 then a lot of other games for that price. Blizzard needs to release an expansion soon the game has gotten very stale.
    Reply
  • DroKing
    Lol no games are worth 60 buck brah. You are the reason why we are getting shafted by big companies brah. Have a good day.
    Reply
  • dormantreign
    60 bucks is way too much, a new game "Digital Download" should be no more then 20 bucks. I "Buy" very few games when they are over priced.
    Reply
  • +1 i will not buy it if it will cost the same as wings of liberty.
    Reply
  • Middleman
    Who cares? When will the campaign expansion hit shelves?
    Reply
  • MiddlemanWho cares? When will the campaign expansion hit shelves? soon....
    Reply
  • bin1127
    dormantreign60 bucks is way too much, a new game "Digital Download" should be no more then 20 bucks. I "Buy" very few games when they are over priced.
    meaning you basically download most of your stuff.
    Reply
  • n1k0
    $60 is normal for games (yes, I remember when it was under $40.... 15 years ago; before StarCraft). Bliz has stated for a long time that HotS will be "priced like an expansion"... My interpretation of that is $30-40.

    I found the $60 I paid to play WoL well worth it (I've only bothered purchasing one title in the past ~ 2 years since release because of how much ladder I play). For me $30-40 will not be a problem (I may even pick up a second copy to play multiple servers - as I do with WoL).

    If you prefer to spend $20 to download more indy games, awesome - there's some awesome stuff out there (that I haven't had time to try) and I'm glad people are supporting them.
    Reply
  • booseek
    Blizzard has said many times that StarCraft II will be priced as an expansion. Just Google "StarCraft II" + "priced as an expansion" to read the sources. Amazon is currently listing it as $40, which is close to the price of all of their non-WoW expansions.
    Reply