StarCraft II NDA Lifted, Details Unleashed

News
By Kevin Parrish
published

Blizzard lifted the NDA for StarCraft II info.

Now that Blizzard lifted the NDA on StarCraft II, those in the press that acquired an early taste of the game or exclusive insider details have finally posted the content online, revealing quite a load of juicy info. IncGamers is one of the first, announcing that trial versions will not be available until after the retail version ships. Additionally, Blizzard plans to use DRM as well as release downloadable content (DLC) and expansions as seen with the original StarCraft.

"There is also a bunch of stuff that I am sure will occur on Battle.net in terms of feature improvements for the core game itself that will not be quite worthy enough for one of our expansion products, but we want to do it now," said Blizzard's Dustin Browder. "So I am sure there will be stuff in between."

VG247 is also reporting that there is no co-op campaign planned, based on a comment Browder made last month. Additionally, Shacknews posted a lengthy hands-on preview, adding that the game is not only delayed due to Battle.net, but portions of the single-player campaign were "somewhat" unfinished, shedding some light on the game's overall delay (from its original Q4 2009 release date). Browder also revealed to Shack that one entire system "was being reworked from the ground up."

Blues News provides an additional list of new StarCraft II media, with a StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty story/gameplay movie on YouTube, an "Old Rivals" cinematic trailer on GameTrailers, and a few new screenshots over on CVG. Blues also provides links to additional previews and Q&As with Rob Pardo and other Blizzard developers.

Also, for fans wanting to convince Blizzard to include LAN play, there's a petition right here, now featuring over 100,000 signatures and awaits your John Hancock.

Kevin Parrish
47 Comments Comment from the forums
  • born2rade
    DRM? Nice..... Arent there people who do not buy games just because of DRM, or am i thinking of something else?
    Reply
  • astrodudepsu
    Depends on the DRM. Although with a game of this hype, DRM isn't going to scare off too many people.
    Reply
  • megamanx00
    Having DRM on that game pretty much kills what little incentive I had for buying it. I thought it might be interesting, but I'm not gonna put up with DRM for that over hyped game. I won't be playing that one.
    Reply
  • pharge
    DRM!!......Hmm... is internet access going to be "REQUIRED" for playing SCII?.... even just for the single player mode?

    I like SC... but... no LAN... DRM...

    hmmm... where is the Blizzard I used to know?.... now the only thing left for me to recognize it is just the "you never know when" type of release date.

    With these many of ceazy stuffs... SCII better to be "GREAT" if not "instant classic" when is finally released (sometime NEXT year?... I hope)...
    Reply
  • jalek
    Well.. I'm sure the pirated version won't have DRM.

    Unique CD keys seem to work for most games authenticating to a central server, like battle.net. Maybe they'll add in SecureROM so it can authenticate elsewhere and restrict installs.

    Another I'll skip. GG.
    Reply
  • Zoonie
    Blizz was lost the day they got Vivendi as parent. Gone are the days of putting their gamers first.

    Now it's all about the cash and how fast it can be made.
    Reply
  • Xzar
    Starcraft 2 will have DLC. I hope the DLC will only be for the single player campaign.

    If they release DLC that will affect multiplayer games, such as new units, then everyone who likes to compete on the ladder will have to buy that DLC just to keep up.

    Let's say you have a 1900 rating, then blizzard releases new corsairs, devourers and valkyries units as DLC. If I don't buy that particular DLC, I'll be stuck playing with a smaller player pool.

    I hope new multiplayer units will be limited to the expansions. They had add the quests and DLC fluff they want for single player, just as long as it doesn't affect multiplayer ladders.
    Reply
  • timaahhh
    DRM prevents some from buying games. However Valve made DRM friendly through steam (at least with first party games). Virtually all games have DRM in some shape or form. Internet access is also required with most valve games as well. I have not heard to many complaints their. Prolly cause valve is seen as a hip company.
    Reply
  • Honis
    DRM, Must be connected to battlenet, no co-op, no lan...

    Sounds like another winner to me!
    Reply
  • hopiamani
    DRM?! More details please!
    Reply