They’re giving the base game away free.
Your eyes don’t deceive you. Blizzard is giving StarCraft II away for free. The move to Free to Play comes with one caveat, though; it’s only the base game with the first campaign. But the online multiplayer can be unlocked for free, and Co-Op is available up to level 5, with a few exceptions. From the press release:
We recognize that you might have found your way here after hearing the news that StarCraft II is going free-to-play very soon—on November 14, to be exact. Curious what that actually means? We know “free-to-play” can mean a lot of things for different games, but we’re here to assure you that when we say that we’re making StarCraft II free-to-play, we really mean it.
Starting November 14, you’ll have free access to the original Wings of Liberty single-player campaign and every Co-op Commander, and will be able to unlock access to StarCraft II’s competitive multiplayer content for free. Here is a specific rundown of everything that will be available to you for free:
- The original Wings of Liberty campaign. Experience the original epic campaign that kicked off the StarCraft II saga! If you picked up Wings of Liberty previously but haven’t come back to StarCraft II in a while, we’ve got good news for you too—if you already own Wings of Liberty, you’ll receive the second installment in StarCraft II’s campaign, the zerg-focused Heart of the Swarm, for free. Make sure to log in between November 8 and December 8 to claim it.
- You will be able to access the ranked multiplayer ladder to compete with other players to become the best of the best, complete with all of the multiplayer units from Wings of Liberty, Heart of the Swarm, and Legacy of the Void. All you have to do to unlock it permanently is earn 10 First Wins of the Day in Unranked or Versus A.I. play—our way to preserve the quality and integrity of the ranked experience.
- Current and upcoming Co-op Commanders are available to play for free up to level five, and the level restriction for weekly mutations has been removed. You’ll be able to tackle these extra challenging missions with your friends right away. The Co-op Commanders Raynor, Kerrigan, and Artanis will remain completely free, meaning that you can keep leveling them to your heart’s content.
In other words, you can now play all of StarCraft II’s multiplayer, every Co-op Commander, and the entire first campaign in the single-player story, for free.
If you play through Wings of Liberty and want to see how the rest of the epic single-player saga unfolds, all the other single-player campaigns—Heart of the Swarm, Legacy of the Void, and Nova Covert Ops will be available to purchase individually for $14.99 or as a bundle for $39.99. We will also continue to offer premium upgrades like announcer packs, special skins, and new Co-op Commanders to enhance your StarCraft II experience in a number of different ways. As with the existing line-up of Co-op Commanders, however, you will be able to play upcoming new Co-op Commanders who are released for free until they reach level 5. You can also purchase any of the campaigns or a seasonal War Chest to gain immediate access to ranked play if you desire.
For those of you who have already purchased any of the three campaigns as of October 31, we’ll soon be sending you a small thank-you in the form of an exclusive Ghost skin as well as three new portraits.
That’s a pretty good shift for StarCraft II overall. And probably a smart business move on their part; more players means more potential reach for new expansions. So November 14th is going to be a big day.
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