Blizzard Announces 'StarCraft: Remastered,' Coming This Summer (Update: Freebies!)

Update, 4/19/2017, 1:00pm PDT: The original StarCraft and its Brood War expansion are now available to download for free. Blizzard also updated the game with a new patch. You can download the game and read the patch notes on Blizzard's website.

Original article, 3/1/2017, 1:00am PDT:

Blizzard’s StarCraft (plus its Brood War expansion) is one of the most notable games in history. It's the definitive real-time strategy genre, and its sequel continues to garner fans and players in the esports scene. This summer, you can revisit the classic title with StarCraft: Remastered.

To bring the new version up to today's presentation standards, Blizzard updated the game’s visuals and audio. Specifically, the game will now support up to 4K resolution. In terms of the overall campaign, the studio will also add new illustrations throughout cutscenes in an effort to “enhance storytelling.”

Those who prefer online play will find a new matchmaking feature in addition to the ranked ladder system. That means the game will be connected to Blizzard’s current online network so that it takes full advantage of additional updates. Other features include support for eight additional languages (on top of the five languages included in the first game) and cloud saves for keybindings, replays, custom maps, and your overall campaign progress.

Blizzard also announced that the original game and expansion will receive an update later this week. On top of fixes and improvements, version 1.18 will add an observer mode, the ability to create your own keybindings, “modern anti-cheat measures,” and improvements to the game’s overall compatibility with Windows 7, 8.1, and 10. As a final treat, Blizzard’s StarCraft Anthology, which includes the original game and the expansion, will be free to download and play when the update is released.

Blizzard hasn’t announced a specific release date for StarCraft: Remastered, although it did say that the game is set to come out this summer. It will be playable on both Windows and Mac OS.