Blizzard Entertainment® Offers Players a Choice of Multiple Payment Models
**【April 9, 2010, Taipei】**Blizzard Entertainment® announced today that the highly anticipated real-time strategy game StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, in its Traditional Chinese version, is coming to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau, priced at NT$1,950 (HK$488). After purchasing the game, players can join the newly updated Battle.net® for online matches at no additional cost.
In addition to buying the product package, Blizzard Entertainment will also offer players a choice of other payment options so they can enjoy StarCraft II, with details of the relevant payment plans to be announced later.
Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment®, said: “One of the goals behind the design of StarCraft II was to attract more players, bringing in both newcomers and seasoned veterans. The same goes for the game’s pricing options — we want to make sure players can have a more flexible experience based on their personal preferences and play style.”
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is the sequel to Blizzard Entertainment®’s 1998 hit StarCraft, which has long been regarded by players and critics worldwide as one of the best real-time strategy games ever made. StarCraft II once again centers on the conflict among the protoss, terrans, and zerg, deploying beloved units from the original StarCraft while adding many upgraded new units and abilities, letting players experience entirely new missions and strategies. The game uses a new 3D graphics engine that maintains the original’s level of speed and responsiveness while displaying hundreds of units at once in large-scale battles.
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty continues the epic adventure campaign storyline of its predecessor StarCraft: Brood War, depicting the heroic deeds of rebel leader Jim Raynor, and features familiar characters as well as newly born heroes. Players can enjoy a personalized experience across 29 missions, choosing their mission path, the technology they use, and advanced research according to their own play style.
The game also includes several mini-challenge modes to help players learn the basic strategies of multiplayer combat. In addition, players can choose from dozens of multiplayer maps on the new Battle.net for online competition; the new Battle.net will launch alongside StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. The new Battle.net will also offer an unprecedented online gaming experience, with features such as voice communication, character profiles and achievements, stat tracking, ladders and leagues, and cloud file storage.
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty can be installed on Windows® XP/Windows Vista®/Windows® 7 and Macintosh® systems. More information, including the game’s release date, will be announced soon.
About Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment (www.blizzard.com), known for such widely acclaimed series as World of Warcraft®, Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo®, is a member of Vivendi Games and one of the most important developers and publishers in the global gaming industry. Its track record includes ten number-one-selling single-player and multiplayer games of the year; its Battle.net® service provides an online entertainment platform for players around the world who own Blizzard software, and currently has millions of active members.
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