Blizzard Entertainment has announced an official widescreen, 4K remastered edition of the original StarCraft. StarCraft: Remastered will include both the classic 1998 real-time strategy title and its expansion, Brood War. The anticipated release date is this Summer.
“StarCraft is a pure distillation of Blizzard’s DNA – its story, its balance, and all the little details reflect our long-running commitment to epic entertainment. It’s been a staple in competitive gaming and esports for almost 20 years,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment. “With StarCraft: Remastered, we’re modernizing the original game’s visuals, audio, and online support to ensure that players can enjoy StarCraft for another 20 years and beyond.”
StarCraft: Remastered will feature widescreen UHD support and up to 4K resolution. The online components will be given a hefty update, with improved connectivity and matchmaking, as well as social features akin to Blizzard’s other modern online titles. Other quality of life improvements include cloud saving campaign progress, localized support for eight new languages, and new illustrations for the campaign missions.
Additionally, Blizzard is making the original StarCraft free to download. The nearly two decade old title has been continually updated since its release. Later this week it will be updated to version 1.18, which adds observer mode and more improvements. When the update hits the entire StarCraft Anthology (StarCraft + Brood War) will be made free to download. Previously it was still selling for $14.99.
Blizzard has always been known for excellent post-game support for all their titles, including patching older games such as StarCraft and Diablo II. StarCraft is widely considered not only one of the best strategy games of all time, but one of the best games period. It’s considered the pinnacle of the RTS genre during its golden age in the late 90s.
In 2010 Blizzard released a sequel, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, followed by two stand-alone expansions, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm (2013) and StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void (2015). They’ve been well-received, though there are not many alternatives for fans of the genre these days.
No firm release date or pricing has been announced for StarCraft: Remastered. The press release anticipates this Summer, but Blizzard is infamous for missing its targeted release schedules.
