StarCraft: Remastered arrives August 14 for $15

[Jos]

Back in March we got confirmation from Blizzard that an HD remaster of StarCraft, the popular real-time strategy game released nearly two decades ago, was in the works. Now we have a release date and price: StarCraft: Remastered complete with the StarCraft: Brood War expansion will be available for Windows and Mac on August 14 priced at $15.

The remaster will offer a full graphical overhaul of the original StarCraft with widescreen UHD support for up to 4K resolution (screenshot samples 1, and 2). There will also be new illustrations to enhance storytelling in campaign missions, advanced matchmaking, full connectivity to Blizzard’s gaming network, cloud saving, custom maps, replays, support for eight new languages, and more.

Gameplay is said to maintain the balance of the original, along with all of the quirks and limitations such as the low unit selection limit and certain units’ poor pathfinding AI.

Despite recreating the art from scratch, everything from the silhouettes to the colors and animations has been meticulously reproduced as a faithful homage to the original. Blizzard included a “make game look old” toggle which will switch the game's graphics from new to old and back when pressing F5, as well as another toggle for some updated lighting and environmental effects.

Ars Technica has a nice piece about how the game was revived and explains how much was rebuilt.

Anyone pre-ordering the game before August 14 will receive three unique building skins for use in StarCraft: Remastered - the Char Hive, the Korhal Command Center, and the Aiur Nexus. They will also receive digital bonuses in StarCraft II, including the Alexei Stukov co-op commander and three unique portraits that celebrate StarCraft: Remastered.

The original game was recently re-released and made completely free, too.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/69942-starcraft-remastered-arrives-august-14-15.html

 

[VitalyT]

And I thought that at least for someone like myself it would be offered for free, since I own Full Starcraft Collector's Edition. That's unfair

 

[misor]

As an owner of starcraft battlechest, I am also expecting blizzard to gave me the updated version for free..

 

[Jeff Schmidt]

I figured this would be either free or $5. But the Activision gods must want more money to build another Scrooge McDuck MoneyBin. The other 50 they have can't hold anymore money I guess.

Another reason I thought free or $5 is that Hearthstone has made $14 trillion dollars since it was created.

 

[That Other Guy]

Well although I agree that it should be free for some, I think $15 is a very fair price for what you are getting.

 

[Kenrick]

Awesome! its a fair price I think. preordering.

 

[Godel]

"Gameplay is said to maintain the balance of the original, along with all of the quirks and limitations such as the low unit selection limit and certain units’ poor pathfinding AI."

You'd think they should at least fix what are obvious design flaws.

 

[namesrejected]

They are claiming to keep it original... I can foresee some DLC for $20 or so stuck in there somewhere.

Probably :
$15 DLC for faster mining
$5 DLC for mouse control
$35 DLC/Month for unlimited play ( will be limited to 10min a day otherwise )
2 Bitcoins to get all your files back-

 

[Gars]

Lol, milking the cow
like MS tried with AOE2CONQ - FHD edition
they just forgot for the 'user patch' (google that if interested)
then, the Forgotten Empire appeared...

 

[Kotters]

And I thought that at least for someone like myself it would be offered for free, since I own Full Starcraft Collector's Edition. That's unfair

You are. Starcraft and Starcraft Remastered are the same client and will be playing the same games together. Remastered is a paid unlock.

 

[Puiu]

Lol, milking the cow
like MS tried with AOE2CONQ - FHD edition
they just forgot for the 'user patch' (google that if interested)
then, the Forgotten Empire appeared...

they are doing it force the still ongoing esports scene for this game. official patches can be adopted by the community and tournaments.

 

[treetops]

Will def be buying this, now remaster d2!

 

[Adhmuz]

Already bought, played the **** out of this game and I can easily justify $15 for a 4k remaster, I've spent more on worse things then my favorite game of all time. Admittedly it could very easily be free due to the vast fortune Blizivision has amassed over the years, but companies are in the market to make money and after all they did release the original game for free, patch it and optimize it for new hardware.