Behind closed doors, Blizzard has settled on a date to start the upcoming StarCraft II Closed Beta … but isn’t ready to say when exactly it’ll be.
According to SC2 fansite StarCraft Wire.net, RTS Community Manager Xordiah spoke with fans at an event in Vienna this weekend and leaked the news: Not only is the multiplayer portion of the game “basically done,” but the day when fans will be able to get their hands on the game via the closed beta might not be that far away – Blizzard has settled on a date.
Of course, Blizzard won’t actually say what that date is.
Given that this is the same company that managed to keep StarCraft II‘s very existence a secret for almost five years, I don’t think anyone should be surprised. Perhaps keeping the beta date a secret for now is Blizzard’s way of supporting the South Korean economy in these fiscally-dreary times – wouldn’t want too many people booking days off all at once, now would we?
One wonders how exactly Blizzard will go about selecting beta participants. BlizzCon attendees did receive a card that – among other things – let them register for an “upcoming beta test,” which is likely this, so that’s one way. For Wrath of the Lich King, there was the random opt-in draw, but you needed to have an active WoW account to participate, and could only enter once. Perhaps it will be tied it to a Battle.net account? (In which case, I’ll have to dig up my old SC1/Brood War CD Keys)
The report on StarCraft Wire goes into detail about some of the specific changes in the latest SC2 build, so if that’s your thing, you might find it interesting – Xordiah is a “Protoss Fetishist” … who knew? – but for everyone else, the knowledge that we’re getting ever closer to getting our hands on the game might just be enough to tide us over until the day comes.
…whenever it is.
