Blizzard: "Heart of the Swarm at Least 18 Months Away"

by Nicholas Taylor, posted on 08 October 2010 / 7,609 Views

Excited for the upcoming Starcraft II expansion, Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm? Well, you'll have to make sure to stay excited for quite some time then, as Blizzard just announced it won't be releasing particularly soon.

When speaking at GDC Online in Texas, Battle.net project director Craig Canessa said that it's going to be at least 18 months away. He said that features for Battle.net like trading, broadcasting replays, and upgrading profiles were “a main area of focus we’re going to be seeing on the Starcraft [II] side over the next 18 months between now and Heart of the Swarm.”

So, tentatively, Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm seems to be set for around March-April 2012, much more specific than the current estimate for Diablo III, which is "sometime within the next few years".

It was also confirmed that Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm will not be present at Blizzcon at all, which takes place between October 22nd and October 23rd.

Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm is the Zerg part of the Starcraft II story, following the already released Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty, which deals with the Terran, and to be followed at some later point by Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void which will focus on the Protoss.


14 Comments

Hephaestos (on 10 October 2010)

@Zarx I mean only to the zergs as the human units that are Single player only, not for the multiplayer. The multiplayer addition for Humans will be taken from the new single player only units, this is pretty much a given.


Nybbas (on 09 October 2010)

@hephaestos you are completely wrong, wherever it is you are getting your information, stop. Don't spread false info.


ChichiriMuyo (on 09 October 2010)

Killiana1a - Kotick doesn't have a right to scream at anybody until they lose money. Blizzard does not lose money. You have no idea what's going on in their company, really, so stow your BS.


Ssenkahdavic (on 08 October 2010)

damn


zarx (on 08 October 2010)

http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2010/08/23/starcraft-2-heart-of-the-swarm-update/ single player will "feel like a sequel" as in will be just as long as WoL's campaign if not longer. Multi-player additions will feel "like an expansion" and will add as much to multi-player as brood war did. As in 2 new units to EACH faction, some new upgrades and new maps.


naznatips (on 08 October 2010)

@snesboy You misinterpreted their comments. WoL has "a" full multiplayer, not "the" full multiplayer. New units will be added to all races with each expansion, so if you aren't buying the expansions, you won't be keeping up with the most advanced/complete metagame.


Naum (on 08 October 2010)

damn so it's 18 months from this day? holy hell...and here I thought it was only 16-15 months to go... seriously how can it take so long?


Snesboy (on 08 October 2010)

Blizzard has already stated that WoL already has the full multiplayer. Heart of the Swarm and The Awesome Protoss Campaign starring Artanis and Zeratul are just storyline expansions. So you can just skip them and not miss out on any multiplayer stuff.


zarx (on 08 October 2010)

@Hephaestos actually I read that each expansion will add new units to all three races in multiplayer. And I don't know why you would think they would only add units to the zerg anyway as that would totally ruin the balance. Blizzard have said in the past that each expansion will add at least as much content as broodwar & the frozen throne.


Vashyo (on 08 October 2010)

If you have to wait for that long, it better be an awesome expansion!


Killiana1a (on 08 October 2010)

Blizzard is exploiting their reputation for pushing games back for quality as laziness. Seriously, the most esteemed PC developer is going to average 2 years in between segments to create a game? By my calculations, we will see Legacy of the Void 4 years from now in 2014. I think there may be internal issues going on. Blizzard may be dealing with the same problem as RealTime Worlds did with APB. They are sitting on so much cash that they work on games at a piecemeal rate because their salaries will not be affected if the game is released in a year or 2 decades. In a case like this, I want Bobby Kotick to be screaming at Michael Morhaime for not releasing the games at an acceptable time. 6 years to create a game segmented into thirds? What a fucking joke with no good excuses.


Killiana1a (on 08 October 2010)

Blizzard is exploiting their reputation for pushing games back for quality as laziness. Seriously, the most esteemed PC developer is going to average 2 years in between segments to create a game? By my calculations, we will see Legacy of the Void 4 years from now in 2014. I think there may be internal issues going on. Blizzard may be dealing with the same problem as RealTime Worlds did with APB. They are sitting on so much cash that they work on games at a piecemeal rate because their salaries will not be affected if the game is released in a year or 2 decades. In a case like this, I want Bobby Kotick to be screaming at Michael Morhaime for not releasing the games at an acceptable time. 6 years to create a game segmented into thirds? What a fucking joke with no good excuses.


Hephaestos (on 08 October 2010)

quick for an expansion? they won't even add units for all races, just the zerg.... and most of the unit thinking should have been done already when they created the new ones for the terrans. I'm guessing the MP will have all units when the 3rd expansion releases? still this 3 thirds of the game sucks, the expansion won't be a real one (that changes things for all races).


ishiki (on 08 October 2010)

if it releases at 18 months, that's quick for blizzard