14 DAY TRIAL // Blizzard's StarCraft franchise celebrated 15 years of existence yesterday, March 31, and the studio has decided to hold a special in-game even that rewards fans with special avatars for playing different multiplayer matches.
StarCraft 1 appeared way back on March 31, 1998, and immediately experienced great sales and critical success for the advancements it brought to the real-time strategy genre. Shortly after that, Blizzard released the Brood War expansion, which continued the story.
Since then, fans had to wait a long and quite grueling 12-year period before Blizzard released the first chapter in the planned StarCraft 2 trilogy, Wings of Liberty.
Now, almost a month since the release of the second part, Heart of the Swarm, Blizzard is celebrating the 15-year anniversary of the franchise.
Besides asking fans to share their favorite StarCraft memories, the studio is also running a special in-game event.
"We're pleased to invite you to take part in the festivities with a brand-new Feat of Strength achievement, as well as three portrait rewards which feature the original Terran, Protoss, and Zerg StarCraft box art. We feel these portraits pay homage to StarCraft’s remarkable history, and are a great way for everyone to take part in the 15-Year Anniversary," the studio said on its website.
In order to receive these portraits, fans need to play a game in any online mode until April 17.
"Beginning March 31, play one Arcade, Custom, Ranked, Training, Unranked, or Versus A.I. game to earn the StarCraft 15-Year Anniversary Feat of Strength achievement. As soon as you've received the achievement, all three portraits will be permanently unlocked in your StarCraft II character profile."
Bear in mind that campaigns, offline custom games, replays, or observing the online matches of friends won't count and the progress is registered after a match is over.
Blizzard has already confirmed that work is already underway on Legacy of the Void, the third and final chapter of StarCraft 2.