14 DAY TRIAL // Blizzard finally announced that StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty would be coming on July 27, launching at the same time on all big gaming markets. It's a moment real time strategy gamers who played the first title in the series have been waiting since at least 2002 and while it stops the speculation train related to StarCraft II, it opens up a whole new can of questions: When can gamers expect to get to play as the Zerg (hopefully not after another 10-year stretch)? When will Blizzard deliver Diablo III, another game that was widely expected to be already out? Can the firm escape from the cycle of deriving so much revenue from World of Warcraft and needing to always put more resources into developing more content for their money maker?
Blizzard is a PC-only company and the creators of some of the most important games in the history of the platform.
But now, it's linked to Activision, a multiplatform developer that aims to always expand the audience for its big titles. So, there's always the possibility of a surprise announcement related to Diablo III, which says the game will also be ported to the Xbox 360 from Microsoft and to the PlayStation 3 from Sony.
After all, this is the Blizzard made property that could actually be adapted to home consoles without a major loss of depth. And while we have seen class information and images released linked to Diablo III for quite a bit of time, the developers have been a bit quiet lately and the game is clearly not going to arrive this year and, considering its launch schedule, not even the next.
The company also needs to consider the way Cataclysm will impact World of Warcraft. The fresh expansion will probably attract some new players and will get old hands to come back to level up their characters and see what high-end content the MMO can offer.
But on the long term, the expansion strategy is largely unsustainable, with games like the Warhammer 40,000 MMO and The Old Republic now fairly close on the horizon.