Something went wrong. Try again later

Giant Bomb News

88 Comments

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Dated for March 12, 2013

Second in the trilogy of games planned for Blizzard’s RTS coming together.

No Caption Provided

Blizzard Entertainment has been as cagey about the release for StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm as the company has been about any of its other products, but the expansion now has a date: March 12, 2013.

It is likely not a coincidence that Activision’s fiscal quarter ends on March 31, 2013.

Heart of the Swarm will be available for both PC and Mac for $39.99, a lowered price point because it’s not a complete sequel to StarCraft II. Rather than try to jam the full story Blizzard wanted to tell into StarCraft II, it’s expanded the storytelling across this expansion and another one in the future.

Patrick Klepek on Google+

88 Comments

Avatar image for patrickklepek
patrickklepek

6835

Forum Posts

1300

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By patrickklepek
No Caption Provided

Blizzard Entertainment has been as cagey about the release for StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm as the company has been about any of its other products, but the expansion now has a date: March 12, 2013.

It is likely not a coincidence that Activision’s fiscal quarter ends on March 31, 2013.

Heart of the Swarm will be available for both PC and Mac for $39.99, a lowered price point because it’s not a complete sequel to StarCraft II. Rather than try to jam the full story Blizzard wanted to tell into StarCraft II, it’s expanded the storytelling across this expansion and another one in the future.

Avatar image for mistercrow
MisterCrow

69

Forum Posts

11

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By MisterCrow

Excited for this! The box / cover art they revealed gives a real big SHODAN vibe (albeit purple).

Avatar image for weavminas
weavminas

101

Forum Posts

49

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

Edited By weavminas

Now will it be delayed?

Avatar image for constantinel
ConstantineL

134

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By ConstantineL

I too am excite.

Avatar image for doctorwelch
DoctorWelch

2817

Forum Posts

1310

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 3

Edited By DoctorWelch

HYYYYYYYYYYPPPPPPEEEEEE!!!

Can't wait.

Avatar image for argo15
Argo15

50

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By Argo15

Cool

Avatar image for solh0und
Solh0und

2189

Forum Posts

10

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By Solh0und

I know one person that's probably excited to hear this news....

Avatar image for shaanyboi
Shaanyboi

1804

Forum Posts

3224

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 5

Edited By Shaanyboi

Because y'know, a dozen other games aren't already coming out this spring.

Avatar image for mildmolasses
MildMolasses

3200

Forum Posts

386

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 9

User Lists: 16

Edited By MildMolasses

Great, I was just thinking about how quiet the first quarter of the year is going to be. I'm glad Activision is willing to throw a bone to us and release a high-profile game during the winter months

Avatar image for kindgineer
kindgineer

3102

Forum Posts

969

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 5

Edited By kindgineer

Sounds great, although farther out than I figured.

Avatar image for mrfluke
mrfluke

6260

Forum Posts

-1

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

Edited By mrfluke

@Solh0und said:

I know one person that's probably excited to hear this news....

amazing

Avatar image for wrathofbanja
WrathOfBanja

370

Forum Posts

67

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 3

Edited By WrathOfBanja

Meh.

Avatar image for guilherme
guilherme

355

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Edited By guilherme

Just one little thing, it's March 12

Avatar image for toowalrus
toowalrus

13408

Forum Posts

29

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 3

Edited By toowalrus

Almost 3 years... Wow, I remember hoping for 1-per-year.

Avatar image for lava
Lava

771

Forum Posts

2164

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 7

User Lists: 8

Edited By Lava

That's great! March 13th is my birthday! Perfect present!

Avatar image for xmegadethxsly
xMEGADETHxSLY

484

Forum Posts

302

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By xMEGADETHxSLY

What is Starcraft

Avatar image for fcdrandy
FCDRandy

298

Forum Posts

473

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 6

Edited By FCDRandy

This is pretty cool because I'll be spending the first quarter 2013 playing 2012 games and can devote a trillion hours to HOTS in the second.

Avatar image for vexxan
Vexxan

4642

Forum Posts

943

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 3

Edited By Vexxan

Finally a date! :)

Avatar image for nadannmagogo
NaDannMaGoGo

338

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By NaDannMaGoGo

@Shaanyboi said:

Because y'know, a dozen other games aren't already coming out this spring.

Blizz don't care.

Avatar image for chilibean_3
chilibean_3

2406

Forum Posts

324

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 5

Edited By chilibean_3

Cool. Cool cool cool cool. Now I need to go watch the original trailer real quick. So good.

Avatar image for nadannmagogo
NaDannMaGoGo

338

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By NaDannMaGoGo

@chilibean_3 said:

Cool. Cool cool cool cool. Now I need to go watch the original trailer real quick. So good.

The original Sc2 announcement trailer? I recommend watching recordings from the live announcement in Korea, it's great.

Avatar image for benny
Benny

2009

Forum Posts

315

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

Edited By Benny

@mrfluke said:

@Solh0und said:

I know one person that's probably excited to hear this news....

amazing

Fucking hell. I can't believe I hadn't seen this before, the zoom in on Ryan's face made me cry with laughter.

Avatar image for glots
glots

5169

Forum Posts

74

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By glots

Finally (or well, four months away, but anyway...) something to play on PC! Besides another Blizzard title, that is...

Avatar image for ptys
ptys

2290

Forum Posts

3

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 14

Edited By ptys

This is news... I thought it was already out?!

Avatar image for dirtydata
dirtydata

90

Forum Posts

11

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Edited By dirtydata

Very excited!

Avatar image for baldgye
baldgye

780

Forum Posts

92

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 5

User Lists: 3

Edited By baldgye

sad that they put a date on this already, the balace and design idea's behind the core game are so fucked atm... its bearly diffrent to WoL and the new units ad almost nothing unless your zerg...

Avatar image for falk
Falk

153

Forum Posts

205

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 9

Edited By Falk

Didn't they originally plan for 18 months between each expansion? Blizzard time in full effect i guess.

Avatar image for baldgye
baldgye

780

Forum Posts

92

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 5

User Lists: 3

Edited By baldgye

@Falk said:

Didn't they originally plan for 18 months between each expansion? Blizzard time in full effect i guess.

if they had done that, they would have fucked with the sc2 scene so lol

Avatar image for robs_knob
robs_knob

38

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By robs_knob

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Avatar image for infestedandy
infestedandy

363

Forum Posts

16

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 34

User Lists: 0

Edited By infestedandy

From a long-time fan and player of SC this is going to sound largely angry at Activision-Blizzard, but that's because it is.

It's taken almost three years for HOTS to come out since Wings of Liberty hit. THREE YEARS. We're getting some extra units, probably some new maps and the expanded story (which is the big focus), but is that all worth $40? The story was extremely lackluster in WOL and, unless I'm completely taken off-guard here, HOTS will be just as brief and slightly more interesting at most. They've taken out a lot of the new units and extra content for 'balancing issues' and I just don't know anymore. I'm thankful it's less than a full priced title, but if you already purchased WOL then why do we need to pay another $40 for essentially the single-player content?

For the people who bought into SCII when it first came out, couldn't Acti-Blizz have thrown a big digital discount out way for the expansion? Am I asking too much? I'm hopeful HOTS will bring SCII back, but I have this feeling that it just won't happen.

Avatar image for zeox
zeox

91

Forum Posts

353

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 3

Edited By zeox

@ptys: the beta is out and has been for a couple of months now

Avatar image for zeforgotten
zeforgotten

10368

Forum Posts

9

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Edited By zeforgotten

Woah, Blizzard. 
What are you guys up to in your office, being all "hey we have a release date"  
Something seems fishy. 
 
I'm excited though to play something else than just the HotS multiplayer

Avatar image for shotgunblast97
Shotgunblast97

195

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By Shotgunblast97

Does anyone know if they might release a bundle pack for Starcraft 2 and heart of the swarm.

Avatar image for d0m3l
d0m3l

77

Forum Posts

1

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Edited By d0m3l

Preordered :) One of those few times when #TakeMyMoneyBlizz worked ;)

Avatar image for mdfetterman
MDFetterman

4

Forum Posts

17

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By MDFetterman

Can't wait... could just be a coincidence compared to the original SC, but it really does seem like they're releasing expansions in the same exact order as the original non-expanded campaign story (Terran, Zerg, then Protoss)

Avatar image for thesoutherndandy
TheSouthernDandy

4157

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By TheSouthernDandy

2 and a half years for an expansion? Thats a little fast don't you think Blizzard?

Avatar image for vinyl
Vinyl

56

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By Vinyl

@ptys: Naw man, maybe you just heard that the beta was live?

Avatar image for binarydragon
BinaryDragon

833

Forum Posts

2329

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 5

User Lists: 6

Edited By BinaryDragon

MARCH 12th?!!!! That's my bloody birthday!

Avatar image for kinjirossd
KinjiroSSD

690

Forum Posts

38

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 4

User Lists: 5

Edited By KinjiroSSD

I think having the worst SC2 unit, the Battlecruiser, as a image for HOTS news must be intentional...

Avatar image for forum_user
Forum_User

319

Forum Posts

5

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

Edited By Forum_User

Guess I know what I'll be playing in May.

Avatar image for starvinggamer
StarvingGamer

11533

Forum Posts

36428

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 25

Edited By StarvingGamer

@infestedandy: Well, unless you felt like Brood War was also way overpriced, I don't really think you have a leg to stand on here.

Avatar image for cjduke
CJduke

1049

Forum Posts

16

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 5

User Lists: 6

Edited By CJduke

@infestedandy said:

From a long-time fan and player of SC this is going to sound largely angry at Activision-Blizzard, but that's because it is.

It's taken almost three years for HOTS to come out since Wings of Liberty hit. THREE YEARS. We're getting some extra units, probably some new maps and the expanded story (which is the big focus), but is that all worth $40? The story was extremely lackluster in WOL and, unless I'm completely taken off-guard here, HOTS will be just as brief and slightly more interesting at most. They've taken out a lot of the new units and extra content for 'balancing issues' and I just don't know anymore. I'm thankful it's less than a full priced title, but if you already purchased WOL then why do we need to pay another $40 for essentially the single-player content?

For the people who bought into SCII when it first came out, couldn't Acti-Blizz have thrown a big digital discount out way for the expansion? Am I asking too much? I'm hopeful HOTS will bring SCII back, but I have this feeling that it just won't happen.

I don't understand where you are coming from. WoL's campaign was "brief"? It had 29 missions, and took a fair amount of time to beat and every mission was quite varied. It was easily as long as most single player campaigns, if not longer and they said HOTS will be about the same length so I'm not getting the "brief" part. "They've taken out A LOT of the new units." Really? I'm pretty sure they have only taken out 1 since the beta has started, the other units were taken out for good reasons. They weren't good units. Not to mention they have changed the entire UI of the game, they are adding in an unranked ladder for practice, they are putting in the clan system, they are making replay viewing better and more accessible, and they are adding in new content like the leveling system to keep casual players interested. They are also going to be putting in a system to restart a game that lost its connection through replays so tournaments aren't ruined by bad connection games. And they are even making their own Blizzard All Stars DOTA mod for it. And most of this content is already usable in the beta. As for complaining about it taking 3 years, it won't be three years until July, and you do realize that people actually wanted time to play WoL and figure out the multiplayer right? How is a 2-3 year span too long of a time, especially considering it is not easy to just add new units to the game and build a whole new single player campaign.

I also don't know what you mean about "bring SC 2 back." The competitive scene is as great as ever, with GSL, IPL, MLG, WCS and NASL all taking place during the end of this year. The game's are of the highest quality and the competition is top notch now that the brood war players are also play SC 2. We just got to see Flash come to the USA and take third place in an MLG. What more do you want? If you are referring to viewers dropping during certain tournaments and less people overall playing, that is always going to happen. Games like LoL are easier to get into and are free so Starcraft will never compete with them. I just don't see where your complaints are coming from or how you think that HOTS is not worth $40. Hell they could charge $50 for it as far as I'm concerned.

Avatar image for baldgye
baldgye

780

Forum Posts

92

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 5

User Lists: 3

Edited By baldgye

@infestedandy said:

From a long-time fan and player of SC this is going to sound largely angry at Activision-Blizzard, but that's because it is.

It's taken almost three years for HOTS to come out since Wings of Liberty hit. THREE YEARS. We're getting some extra units, probably some new maps and the expanded story (which is the big focus), but is that all worth $40? The story was extremely lackluster in WOL and, unless I'm completely taken off-guard here, HOTS will be just as brief and slightly more interesting at most. They've taken out a lot of the new units and extra content for 'balancing issues' and I just don't know anymore. I'm thankful it's less than a full priced title, but if you already purchased WOL then why do we need to pay another $40 for essentially the single-player content?

For the people who bought into SCII when it first came out, couldn't Acti-Blizz have thrown a big digital discount out way for the expansion? Am I asking too much? I'm hopeful HOTS will bring SCII back, but I have this feeling that it just won't happen.

You don't at all sound like a 'fan' just some crybaby who played sc and bw when it came out.

And I don't understand why you think three years is too long either, WoL needed that to establish its self and give its self a meta game that didn't revolve around cheese and 2base all in's... WoL is a mature game with mostly good balance... if HotS came out after a year or two Sc2 would be in a much worse position.

Avatar image for torus
torus

1106

Forum Posts

6

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

Edited By torus

I remember being excited about this, two or three years ago. I played hundreds of hours of Starcraft II. I'll be honest. After what Diablo 3 turned out to be, and the amount of time since the previous SC2... the fact that this is 40 dollars is almost insulting. I know people will buy it, but I won't be one of them.

Avatar image for falk
Falk

153

Forum Posts

205

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 9

Edited By Falk

@CJduke said:

They are also going to be putting in a system to restart a game that lost its connection through replays so tournaments aren't ruined by bad connection games.

There really is no good excuse for not having LAN play at this point, at least for the bigger blizzard supported events.

Avatar image for baldgye
baldgye

780

Forum Posts

92

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 5

User Lists: 3

Edited By baldgye

@torus said:

I remember being excited about this, two or three years ago. I played hundreds of hours of Starcraft II. I'll be honest. After what Diablo 3 turned out to be, and the amount of time since the previous SC2... the fact that this is 40 dollars is almost insulting. I know people will buy it, but I won't be one of them.

time is important how?

Avatar image for evercaptor
Evercaptor

436

Forum Posts

3014

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Edited By Evercaptor

Blizzard have yet to make a game I want to play but I hope y'all have fun with it.

Avatar image for swabbleflange
swabbleflange

60

Forum Posts

1

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Edited By swabbleflange

@Shaanyboi said:

Because y'know, a dozen other games aren't already coming out this spring.

This is the only one I'll be buying.

Avatar image for fiestaunicorn
FiestaUnicorn

1680

Forum Posts

138

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 4

Edited By FiestaUnicorn

@TheSouthernDandy said:

2 and a half years for an expansion? Thats a little fast don't you think Blizzard?

They work according to Valve time.

Avatar image for ben_h
Ben_H

4812

Forum Posts

1628

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 5

Edited By Ben_H
@Shotgunblast97 said:
Does anyone know if they might release a bundle pack for Starcraft 2 and heart of the swarm.
From my understanding, the expansion is stand-alone, but if you want the campaign from the first game then yes you will have to get both. If you just want multiplayer, just get the expansion.