Simply because they can get away with it. 
 
That wasn't joke, but let's elaborate on that a bit. Blizzard said that the expansions will be out no early than a year after Wings of Liberty/Heart of the Swarm. Ok, we know Blizzard - no way this will be true. My personal guess is that both of them (HotS and Legacy of the Void) will take at least two years to make. I would guess that Legacy of the Void will take two years at maximum, but Heart of the Swarm at least two years. 
 

Heart of the Swarm 

Legacy of the Void 

That's 180 bucks, thank you 

One last thought

Simply because they can get away with it. 
 
That wasn't joke, but let's elaborate on that a bit. Blizzard said that the expansions will be out no early than a year after Wings of Liberty/Heart of the Swarm. Ok, we know Blizzard - no way this will be true. My personal guess is that both of them (HotS and Legacy of the Void) will take at least two years to make. I would guess that Legacy of the Void will take two years at maximum, but Heart of the Swarm at least two years. 
 

Heart of the Swarm 

Legacy of the Void 

That's 180 bucks, thank you 

One last thought

I doubt it's going to take that long for them to release two expansions. After all, the main game, code etc. is done now, they're merely building upon the top of it. 
 

I'm guessing they will be $40 at the most.

the next one wont come out for another six years so, no worries

" I doubt it's going to take that long for them to release two expansions. After all, the main game, code etc. is done now, they're merely building upon the top of it. 
 

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

What am I talking about, this is Blizzard. You're being generous with those years coming to think of it.

"

" I'm guessing they will be $40 at the most. "

I couldn't care less if they're all £40 each new, I can see myself having has good a time as I am now with wings of liberty, plus I can foresee Heart of the Swarm taking one and a half years to 2 years and i'll easily recoup £40 by then. 
 
Blizzard can have my money!

...hopefully they put in the chat channels and region free zone by then.   >.>

cause sheeps will buy it

" ...hopefully they put in the chat channels and region free zone by then.   >.> "

They said awhile back that they would be priced as expansions, who knows if they have changed their minds since then. 
 
http://www.starcraft-source.com/article/news/view/?id=261

" They said awhile back that they would be priced as expansions, who knows if they have changed their minds since then. 
 
http://www.starcraft-source.com/article/news/view/?id=261 "

I don't think they'd have a 2 year waiting period for each expansion. That sounds insane to me, but then again we're talking about Blizzard. Even if it will be 2 years between each, $180 isn't a whole lot of money spent over 4 years.

I think you guys are a bit exaggerating. They can make WoW expansions on time, so I assume they can do the same with Starcraft II.

" I think you guys are a bit exaggerating. They can make WoW expansions on time, so I assume they can do the same with Starcraft II. "

" I think you guys are a bit exaggerating. They can make WoW expansions on time, so I assume they can do the same with Starcraft II. "

I agree that they shouldn't be 60 bucks, maybe 40 bucks since all you're getting is new campaigns while the online is the same. Honestly I think you'll see a lot of people skip the expansions because they came for only one reason which is the online. Which makes me think that from a business perspective maybe they should have a subscription for the online of starcraft 2 even though I know noone wants that.

Nice blog!
 
I find myself to be fairly optomistic about the release times for these expansions. Comparing these expansions to WoW expansions is wrong to me... An MMO like WoW is a lot more complex on several different levels than an RTS like Starcraft if you compare player per instance, scale, maps, content, synchronization etc... Making gameplay changes and adding areas to an MMO is a lot more complicated than making a new map or unit in Starcraft. I know it's a simplistic way of seeing this but I build games and software myself so it makes sens to me...
 
Like some said before me on your thread, the basic framework for the game is done. If you attended last year's Blizzcon, the pannel on the map creator for this game showed that it is exhaustive and you can do a very huge shit load of different things with it that doesn't require heavy code rewriting.  The only thing I see taking more time than they expect is changing the mechanics between missions (unless they've prepared tools for that as well). On a positive note, setbacks mean they change stuff, and change is often a consequence of making new stuff, so if they delay then we can theorize it's because they are making cool new features!
 
All in all, I wouldn't be surprise if they take a bit more time to produce than they anticipated but I'm pretty sure these expansions will be here shortly, before the end of 2013 in my mind!
  

Aren't we all forgetting that Activision is also running this? It's going to be $60. I have money on this. So what I'm going to do is be a real PC gamer and wait for the price to drop down to $50. I don't care if it takes years. It's the principal.

HotS will probably be this time next year and LoTV this time the next year.
 
I hope.

Warcraft 3 was 60 bucks, and Frozen Throne was 40. I wouldn't worry.

" Warcraft 3 was 60 bucks, and Frozen Throne was 40. I wouldn't worry. "

" @JeffGoldblum said:

" I'm guessing they will be $40 at the most. "

If they require Wings of Liberty then that's probably true.  But if it has a system like Guild Wars where each campaign is standalone and gives access to the multilayer, then I can see it being $60. "

" @Overwatch: WoW expansions were 40 bucks "

" @Feanor said:

" @Overwatch: WoW expansions were 40 bucks "

Ok, got me :). Can't say anything about that. "

When they first announced Starcraft 2, they said it would be 3 chapters. The two subsequent games (Zerg and Protoss) would be full-price and would not require the first game to play, as they would not be expansions. They would all ship with the same multiplayer, making them cross-compatible.

" When they first announced Starcraft 2, they said it would be 3 chapters. The two subsequent games (Zerg and Protoss) would be full-price and would not require the first game to play, as they would not be expansions. They would all ship with the same multiplayer, making them cross-compatible. "

" @JeffGoldblum said:

" I'm guessing they will be $40 at the most. "

If they require Wings of Liberty then that's probably true.  But if it has a system like Guild Wars where each campaign is standalone and gives access to the multilayer, then I can see it being $60. "

No. This is the main game and multiplayer. The expansions build on the main game and I can't imagine they would lock anyone out of multiplayer so nothing multiplayer exclusive will be in the expansions. So they should cost less. Unless they're just complete jackasses, new multiplayer units will be patched in for everyone in conjunction with the expansions, otherwise the whole thing would be unbalanced. On the other hand, Blizzard likes calling them "whole games".

Blizzard will do whatever the hell they want, whenever the hell they want because they know all of you will buy it anyway.

Every single business decision Blizzard ever makes is based on the question:

Will this increase the value of the company stock for my shareholders?
 
Activision banks on 'yes' by means of the yearly franchise. I think they'll get these release dates on the dot, and Activision will release the expansions as is if they don't make the deadline. They did it for WoW's last expansion.
 
I remember when Blizzard really loved delaying games to refine them. At this point in Blizzard's life, I don't think you'll see a delay in a future release ever again (and they'll release a non-expansion every year).

" At this point in Blizzard's life, I don't think you'll see a delay in a future release ever again (and they'll release a non-expansion every year). "

Let's wait until Blizzard actually talks specifics about the other two games.

"All they got is Diablo III and that future MMO coming up, I don't think they'll be pumping out yearly games.  At the worst I see is this:  2011 - Diablo III 2012 - SC2 Zerg 2013 - New MMO 2014 - ???"

" I remember when Blizzard really loved delaying games to refine them. At this point in Blizzard's life, I don't think you'll see a delay in a future release ever again (and they'll release a non-expansion every year). "

"I wouldn't be that harsh. Blizzard devs still take their time. StarCraft 2 was in development since Frozen Throne (2003) and this version of Diablo 3 is in development since 2005, if I remeber this correctly. That's 7 years on one game. What other studio does something like this? Not very many... "

I look forward to spending $300 total on SCII over the next four years.  Can't wait to see what the Zerg special edition stuff is going to be.  Maybe a USB Overlord humidifier and a unique Ultralisk unit model?  Mini-Ultra for WoW also ^_^

Blizzard's expansions have always been like $30 where I live.

simple because they can.

It seems to me that if you are like Brad and play starcraft for the competitive multiplayer, then dont worry about the upcoming two expansions. Having or mot having them wont affect you at all.