Tag Archives: Blizzard

Blizzard release Starcraft II custom map ‘Burning Tide’

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Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty Burning TideBlizzard have released Burning Tide, the first custom map for their highly successful Real Time Strategy game Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty. The 3 vs 3 map was announced on the Starcraft II Battle.net blog. The Starcraft II blog says:

“We’re proud to announce the release of Blizzard Entertainment’s first new StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty custom map: Burning Tide!”

“Featuring timed lava surges and collectable mineral caches, Burning Tide is a 3v3 map that combines several thematic elements from the epic single-player campaign mission “The Devil’s Playground.”

“Like the campaign mission, the goal of this game is greed, and the first team to reach the specified resource total wins! Players hoping to achieve victory on this map will need to work together, carefully managing their team’s unit production and safeguarding their vulnerable workers as they defend against enemy forces.”

Starcraft II players can access Burning Tide in the custom games list in the game client. It’s likely that Burning Tide will be the first of many custom maps released by Blizzard for Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty. Any interested Train2Game students can get a taste of Burning Tide by looking at the screenshots on the Starcraft II Battle.net blog.

Activision Blizzard is extremely pleased with the success of Starcraft II, with Wings of Liberty being the fastest selling strategy game of all time, selling 1.5 million copies in the first 48 hours of release. Starcraft II then went on to sell three million copes in the month after its much anticipated release on July 27th.

So Train2Game, will you be playing Burning Tide? Or have you done so already? Are you pleased Blizzard are releasing more multiplayer challenges for Starcraft II?

You can leave your thoughts about Burning Tide and Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Starcraft II sells over three million in a month

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Starcraft IIStarcraft II: Wings of Liberty has sold over three million copies worldwide in just its first month on release according to publisher Activision Blizzard.

The long anticipated Starcraft II was released simultaneously worldwide on July 27th with many eager Starcraft fans attending midnight launches in order to be among the first to get their hands on the RTS sequel.

Starcraft II was a massive success, with 1.5 million copies Blizzard’s title being sold in the first 48 hours of release, making Starcraft II the fastest selling strategy game of all time.

Naturally, Starcraft II had no trouble topping the UK Charts in its first week on release, an impressive achievement given that downloaded copies of Wings of Liberty weren’t counted in the chart at the time.

These strong sales have given Starcraft II the momentum required to push past the three million copies sold mark, further cementing Wings of Liberty’s position as the most successful PC game of 2010 so far. With three million copies sold, it seems unlikely that anything will be removing Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty from its position of most successful PC game of the year.

Activision Blizzard will no doubt be well on the way to recouping the supposed $100 million Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty cost to produce.

Naturally, CEO of Blizzard Entertainment Mike Morhaime is pleased with the success of Starcraft II.

“We appreciate all the enthusiasm that players around the world have shown for StarCraft II.”

“It was important to us to deliver an overall gameplay experience that was accessible, balanced, and fun, and it’s been gratifying to see how strongly the global community has already embraced the game.”

With Starcraft II being divided into three instalments, it’s likely that Activision Blizzard will have more success with the franchise in future. However, there’s no word yet on when the second part of Starcraft II will be released.

So Train2Game, have you picked up a copy of Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty in the month it’s been on sale? If so, is it really that amazing?  How much are you looking forward to the next instalment of the Starcraft II franchise? And will anything else released this year topple Starcraft II from its position of most successful PC game of 2010?

You can leave your thoughts on Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty, or the Starcraft franchise in general, here on the Train2Game blog or on the Train2Game forum.

Starcraft II ‘the fasting selling strategy game of all time’

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Blizzard has revealed that Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty sold over a million copies worldwide in just its first day on sale.

That already made it the best selling PC game of the year so far, while selling a total of 1.5 million copies in its first 48 hours cemented Starcraft II as the fastest selling strategy game of all time.

More than 8,000 stores throughout the world opened their doors at midnight to celebrate the release of the much anticipated sci-fi sequel, including Game on London’s Oxford Street.

The store saw hundreds of fans queuing up to be among the first to play Starcraft II, 12 years after the original hit the PC in 1998. CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, Mike Morhaime, is happy with the title’s initial sales.

“We launched Starcraft II in 11 different languages and on 5 different continents because we wanted to make sure as many players as possible were able to log on and play on day one.”

“We’re pleased that so many people around the world have already picked up a copy of the game, and we look forward to welcoming even more players to Battle.net in the weeks and months ahead.”

Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty topped the UK charts this week, and retailer GameStop has confirmed it’s the fastest selling PC title since the release of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King – also published by Blizzard – in 2008.

So, Train2Game are you surprised by that Starcraft II sold a million copies in just 24 hours, or was it to be expected? Have you played it yet? And finally, is any other PC or strategy title going to beat it in the near future?

As usual, leave your thoughts here or on the Train2Game forum.

Starcraft II claims Number 1

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Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty has launched to top spot of the UK software charts in its debut week. Blizzard’s sequel has been one of the most anticipated PC releases of the year, with hundreds of fans queuing up to be among the first to play the RTS on the early hours of Tuesday morning. Starcraft II has topped the charts through boxed releases alone, and while the long awaited Sci-fi sequel is likely to also have successfully sold in digital form, these downloads are not tracked by Chart-Track.

The Blizzard RTS has bumps Toy Story 3 down to second place, with Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption still strongly rounding up sales despite dropping to third.  Dance on Broadway and Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 move down one place each to forth and fifth.

Just Dance climbs two places from eighth to sixth, while Nintendo DS RPG Dragon Quest IX:  Sentinels Starry Skies also moves up two spots from ninth to seventh in its second week of sales.

FPS rivals Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 both re-enter the top ten, climbing from eleventh to eight and twelfth to tenth respectively. Meanwhile Super Mario Galaxy two remains in the top ten, but has dropped from sixth to ninth.

Crackdown 2 has crashed out of the top ten, dropping from tenth to eighteenth, despite holding first place as recently as two weeks ago.

The full top ten for the week ending July 31st is as follows:

1. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (Blizzard)
2. Toy Story 3 (Disney)
3. Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar)
4. Dance on Broadway (Ubisoft)
5. LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (Warner Bros)
6. Just Dance (Ubisoft)
7. Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Sky (Square Enix)
8. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision Blizzard)
9. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo)
10. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (EA)

So, Train2Game students, will Starcraft II hold onto first place?  Why does Modern Warfare 2 continue to be so popular? And why do you think Crackdown 2 has seen such an undignified drop?

As usual, leave your thoughts here or on the Train2Game forum.