StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm is an upcoming expansion pack to the military science fiction real-time strategy game StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty and part two of the planned StarCraft II trilogy. Part three is titled Legacy of the Void.
The expansion will include additional units and multiplayer changes from Wings of Liberty, as well as a continuing campaign focusing on the Zerg species. It will span approximately 20 missions and will be priced as an expansion set.
The game is expected to have around 20 missions, and will continue the story from Wings of Liberty, taking place two years after the previous game, in 2506. The player will play from the perspective of Sarah Kerrigan, recently returned to her human state by Jim Raynor.
The development of StarCraft II was announced on May 19, 2007, at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in Seoul, South Korea. At the June 2008 Blizzard Worldwide Invitational, Blizzard Executive Vice President Rob Pardo said that StarCraft II was to be released as a trilogy of games, starting with Wings of Liberty, focused on the Terrans, followed by Heart of the Swarm, revolving around the Zerg, and finally Legacy of the Void, devoted to the Protoss. Blizzard's storyboard team was already working on Heart of the Swarm in early 2010 while Wings of Liberty's gameplay was refined. Wings of Liberty was released July 27, 2010 to much critical acclaim.
Blizzard had never anticipated releasing Heart of the Swarm before the end of 2011. By March 2011, lead designer Dustin Browder estimated the game was "about a year" from completion. By July 2011, the first portion of the game was finished, as well as many of its cinematic cutscenes.
A few updates will be made to the game's graphics engine, including upgrades to the look and behavior of Zerg creep, as well as some improvements to the rendering of game environments. However, the expansion will have the same hardware requirements as Wings of Liberty.
On April 30, 2012, Blizzard announced that the latest multiplayer build of Heart of the Swarm would be playable at the MLG Spring Championship ahead of a planned beta release. No actual release dates were specified.
As of June 15, 2012, the game is complete. The only unfinished thing is "tuning and polishing". No release date was specified.
August 15 Blizzard announced that the multiplayer beta will be beginning soon. As of September 4, 2012, Blizzard began closed beta testing of the multiplayer beta, releasing it to select Pro-gamers, members of the press, Arcade contest winners, and shoutcasters. The beta testers are not under a non-disclosure agreement, so they are free to stream their games, release pictures, etc.
On their website, Blizzard has stated that the official release date for Heart of the Swarm will be March 12, 2013.
The expansion will include additional units and multiplayer changes from Wings of Liberty, as well as a continuing campaign focusing on the Zerg species. It will span approximately 20 missions and will be priced as an expansion set.
The game is expected to have around 20 missions, and will continue the story from Wings of Liberty, taking place two years after the previous game, in 2506. The player will play from the perspective of Sarah Kerrigan, recently returned to her human state by Jim Raynor.
The development of StarCraft II was announced on May 19, 2007, at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in Seoul, South Korea. At the June 2008 Blizzard Worldwide Invitational, Blizzard Executive Vice President Rob Pardo said that StarCraft II was to be released as a trilogy of games, starting with Wings of Liberty, focused on the Terrans, followed by Heart of the Swarm, revolving around the Zerg, and finally Legacy of the Void, devoted to the Protoss. Blizzard's storyboard team was already working on Heart of the Swarm in early 2010 while Wings of Liberty's gameplay was refined. Wings of Liberty was released July 27, 2010 to much critical acclaim.
Blizzard had never anticipated releasing Heart of the Swarm before the end of 2011. By March 2011, lead designer Dustin Browder estimated the game was "about a year" from completion. By July 2011, the first portion of the game was finished, as well as many of its cinematic cutscenes.
A few updates will be made to the game's graphics engine, including upgrades to the look and behavior of Zerg creep, as well as some improvements to the rendering of game environments. However, the expansion will have the same hardware requirements as Wings of Liberty.
On April 30, 2012, Blizzard announced that the latest multiplayer build of Heart of the Swarm would be playable at the MLG Spring Championship ahead of a planned beta release. No actual release dates were specified.
As of June 15, 2012, the game is complete. The only unfinished thing is "tuning and polishing". No release date was specified.
August 15 Blizzard announced that the multiplayer beta will be beginning soon. As of September 4, 2012, Blizzard began closed beta testing of the multiplayer beta, releasing it to select Pro-gamers, members of the press, Arcade contest winners, and shoutcasters. The beta testers are not under a non-disclosure agreement, so they are free to stream their games, release pictures, etc.
On their website, Blizzard has stated that the official release date for Heart of the Swarm will be March 12, 2013.
