Starcraft II Has Been Shipped

Blizzard Entertainment today announced that "Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty" has been shipped and is on sale in North America, Europe, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.

"StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is the sequel to Blizzard Entertainment’s 1998 hit StarCraft, which has been hailed by players and critics worldwide as one of the top real-time strategy games of all time. Sporting a vibrant 3D-graphics engine, StarCraft II once again centers on the clash between the protoss, terrans, and zerg, with each side deploying legions of veteran, upgraded, and new unit types. Unparalleled online play for StarCraft II is available through a new version of Battle.net®, Blizzard Entertainment's world-renowned gaming service. Battle.net has been redesigned from the ground up to be the premier online gaming destination for Blizzard gamers, with several enhancements and new features, such as voice communication, cloud file storage, leagues and ladders, achievements, stat-tracking, and more.

“We've worked hard to deliver an epic continuation of the StarCraft story line as well as the ultimate competitive real-time strategy game with StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “Combined with the next-generation online environment of the new Battle.net, we believe players will agree that StarCraft II offers an experience unlike anything we've ever created, and we're excited to finally be able to share it with them.”

The solo campaign for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty picks up the saga where it left off in StarCraft: Brood War®. The story line chronicles the exploits of marshal-turned-rebel-leader Jim Raynor and features both familiar faces and new heroes. Players can tailor the experience, choosing their own mission path and selecting technology and research upgrades to suit their playing style throughout the 29-mission campaign. Several challenge missions are also included, with focused goals designed to ease players into the basics of multiplayer strategies.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is available on DVD-ROM for Windows® XP / Windows Vista® / Windows® 7 and Macintosh®. The standard edition sells for a suggested retail price of $59.99 and will also be available as of 10 a.m. PDT today as a digital purchase at www.starcraft2.com. The special Collector’s Edition package, available only at retail stores at a suggested price of $99.99, includes the following bonus items in addition to the game disc:

• The Art of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, a 176-page book featuring artwork from the game
• An exclusive 2GB USB flash drive replica of Jim Raynor's dog tag, which comes preloaded with the original StarCraft and the StarCraft: Brood War® expansion set
• A behind-the-scenes DVD containing over an hour of developer interviews, cinematics with director’s commentary, and more
• The official StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty soundtrack CD, containing 14 epic tracks from the game along with exclusive bonus tracks
• StarCraft comic book issue #0, a prequel to the comic series
• A World of Warcraft® mini Thor in-game pet that can be applied to all World of Warcraft characters on a single Battle.net account
• Exclusive Battle.net downloadable content, including special portraits for your Battle.net profile, decals to customize your units in-game, and a visually unique version of the terran Thor unit

For more information on StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, visit the official website at www.blizzard.com/games/sc2/."