Internet Evolved Enough for Starcraft II Authentication to Work

Blizzard has announced that Starcraft II will need an Internet connection in order to allow even single player games to be launched and that all the multiplayer action will go through the infrastructure of Battle.net. A lot of players were up in arms over the measures, saying that they would limit access to the game for those who do not have Internet access or have a poor connection.

Now, Dustin Browder, who is the project lead on Starcraft II, has told Gamasutra that “When we shipped the original StarCraft, you were looking at a game where a lot of people were on dial-up. Not everyone is up on dial-up. We built a game that was functionally designed to work on your PC, and if you have this piece of equipment and you know how to make it work, you can then play this other part of the game. Now, looking at what the PC is today, that's not how the PC ships. The PC ships today with the internet.”

For Blizzard, the clear sign that it could design videogames that are always connected to the servers of the company has been the success of World of Warcraft, which, by its nature as a MMO, needs the Internet connection of the player to be working well.

Blizzard has not actually only introduced the server authentication and constant connection in order to deter piracy but also so that it could be able to introduce a new aspect to the game experience in Starcraft II, mainly by providing a social element within the game itself.

Browder cited the success of Xbox Live as one reason for Blizzard's moves and it seems that the idea of always connected PC games is catching on, with Electronic Arts doing something similar for the upcoming Command & Conquer 4.