Released in 1997 with Diablo, Battle.net continues to be one of the largest online gaming services anywhere, claiming millions of active users. Each of Blizzard’s subsequent titles has included the Battle.net engine, and StarCraft II will be no exception.
Details are sketchy about the new Battle.net engine coming out with StarCraft II, but Sigaty explained that Blizzard is aware of Battle.net's popularity and are working hard at creating a bigger, better version.
"We stepped up each of our editors with each of our products; their capabilities have increased in leaps and bounds forwards from StarCraft to Warcraft 3, fully supporting other games," Sigaty said. "One of the big things that happened from Warcraft 3 was [a popular map, Defense of the Ancients], which was entirely fan community created, and that is exactly what we want to happen with StarCraft II, and the editor is even more powerful."
So now the Blizzard has whetted our appetite, when can we expect to see it?
"When its ready is what we usually say. But I have been saying, even though, traditionally, from announcement of a new title to release it has been three to four year gap. We are hoping we can improve upon that, and get this out in a year or so," explained Sigaty.
However, he expects the forums on theofficial siteto be up and ready in a month or two, so StarCraft fans can have a place to gather in expectation. While you're waiting visit the Images tab above for the latest images of the Terran forces andclick here for our updated impressions on the most highly anticipated sequel in RTS history.
