People make fun of SC2 for not making headlines as often as other Blizzard games, but do you know why it’s not in the news more often?īecause nothing ever catches fire over there. A part of me is almost glad Blizzard is letting things be and leaving on that high note rather than continuing to milk it simply because it can.Īpart from the quality and quantity of its ongoing support, another thing that’s remarkable about StarCraft II is its ability to avoid major errors. That plot wrapped up in spectacular fashion with Legacy of the Void, and few if any loose ends were left to wrap up. Unlike Warcraft, which has always been more about a living world with a constantly evolving story, the StarCraft franchise has had a singular, cohesive plot from its inception. The story updates seem to have ended for good with the Nova: Covert Ops DLC, but as much as I would be happy to consume more story for this game, even I have to admit there really isn’t much need for it. That such balance changes are less frequent could just as easily be taken as a sign of the game’s health as a sign development is winding down. Balance patches for both PvP and co-op are still coming out. Co-op commanders still get added every few months. The fact that it’s still getting updates at all is impressive. Again, this isn’t the sort of game that was ever meant to be updated continuously, save perhaps in the unrealistic expectations of a never-satisfied gaming community and the coke-addled fever dreams of investors. Major patches are becoming fewer and farther between. Yes, the rate of updates has slowed significantly.
#STARCRAFT 2 ARCADE GAME PROJECT HAVEN CLASSES PLUS#
Three expansion packs the size of whole new games, plus a meaty and high-quality story DLC, plus ongoing updates to the competitive and co-op modes that continue to this day (albeit at a slowed rate) is an absolutely astonishing amount of post-launch support for this kind of game.įor whatever reason, though, many people still seem to believe that SC2 is struggling, or even dead, but nothing could be further from the truth. There’s this expectation that every game needs to be some ever-living cash cow, with an endless stream of massive new expansions and updates.īut StarCraft II isn’t an MMORPG, and if you compare it to its actual competitors - single-player games with multiplayer elements - it has enjoyed a massive, almost unprecedented amount of ongoing support. There’s also the fact that World of Warcraft redefined success for all online games, especially Blizzard’s. It’s well known that the StarCraft franchise is extremely popular in Korea, and while its popularity in the West is also very strong - as evidenced by the fact the North American servers are still well-populated to this day - it’s possible that its greatest fanbase simply lies outside the English-speaking world. So I imagine there are lots of Blizzard fans who don’t know play SC2 and don’t know anyone who does, and therefore assume it must be unpopular or forgotten.
RTS is kind of of its own thing, and fairly niche in this day and age. Even Overwatch is much closer to Blizzard’s RPGs than SC2 is. MMOs and ARPGs are close enough that if you’re a fan of World of Warcraft, the odds of your also being at least somewhat interested in Diablo III are pretty high. I suspect there is very little overlap between the fanbases of StarCraft and Blizzard’s other games. I’m not sure why that is, but I have some theories. It’s seen as a disappointment or even a failure. The funny thing is there seems to be this pervasive perception - especially from people who don’t play it - that StarCraft II is somehow neglected or abandoned, or the red-headed stepchild of the Blizzard family. Obviously World of Warcraft is the greatest financial success, but money isn’t everything. The game may well be its greatest achievement since Warcraft III, at least from a player’s perspective.
I’ve talked before about how much I love StarCraft II‘s co-op, but for a while now I’ve been meaning to talk more broadly about what an amazing job Blizzard has done with SC2 generally. But I also believe in giving credit where it’s due, and the company still does some things that are worthy of respect. While I do think the studio’s actions at BlizzCon are encouraging, it still feels weird heaping praise on Blizzard right now.
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