OMG StarCraft

Word leaked today that Blizzard's unannounced MMO currently in development will indeed be based on an entirely new franchise.

Blizzard's WoW community manager Zarhym focused briefly on the new IP in a lengthy post on the Wrath of the Litch King message boards.

“We have nothing to advertise for the new MMO because it's a shell of a game thus far,” said Zarhym. “We've already stated it'll be a brand new franchise, which means the lore, art, and game play are being developed entirely from scratch. It's an overwhelming process, but a process through which we excel. Our track record supports this.”

Blizzard Public Relations Manager Shon Damron was reached by phone but had no immediate comment.

Keep checking back for more to come on this developing story. For Zarhym's complete post, click here.

Blizzard announced yesterday that tickets for its fourth BlizzCon convention will go on sale May 16. BlizzCon is becoming the fastest growing gaming convention in the world and this year's event -- scheduled for August 21 and 22 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California -- is promising to be the biggest yet.

More after the jump.

So things have been incredibly quiet on the StarCraft II front, but we all know with every day that passes we are a little big closer to the beta. One anticipated hurdle to clear before we can expect a beta announcement is the second Battle Report, a video match between Blizzard reps that is commentated by lead developer Dustin Browder. The purpose of these videos is to showcase some of the new developments in the game and make the fans drool even more in anticipation of getting their hands on it.

StarCraftWire.net is reporting that the second Battle Report is not only finished but that the Web page for it was up live for a few moments last week. While the video itself was not live, every other part of it was, including the transcript.

UPDATE: Karune thinks BR2 could be out by weeks end:

For those following, Battle Report #2 was posted before it was ready. We are trying to make the video ready for release at the end of the week. Will give you additional updates as they become available.

Don’t spoil the BattleReport :) avoid spoilers if possible…

--Karune

It's understandable that between all the April Fools "beta counters" and all the talk of beta being close that fans would be restless and a little testy on the Battle.net forums. Karune posted recently to let fans know that the second Battle Report and the beta test are both coming along as planned.

Read what Karune had to say after the jump.

Blizzard has released Blizzcast 8 and in it Dustin Browder speaks for a few minutes on how flying units could change the way StarCraft II plays compared to the original. He also talks about how much work is left to be done on the artwork.

"Where previously you would only see battlecruisers in certain matchups in Starcraft, now in Starcraft 2 you’ll probably see them in more matchups sort of across the board," Browder said.

In addition to this, some WoW questions are answered and there is a lot of Diablo III talk. Hit the jump to listen to the podcast.

Late yesterday Blizzard announced a new contest on their StarCraft II website in addition to the Vespene Laughs one that is already underway. This new contest will test fan's creativity in imagining and creating a Blizzard Entertainment theme park.

The prizes are simple but sought after, two StarCraft II beta keys to each of the four winners. The grand prize winner will also get a Wacom Cintiq 12WX Digitizing Tablet.

Do you have what it takes to get those beta keys you're dying for? Read more of the official rules after the jump.

Is StarCraft: Ghost being revived? Apparently, the Chinese government doesn't want to find out.

Blizzard Entertainment recently applied to register their StarCraft: Ghost trademark as an e-sports brand in China and was rejected by the Chinese State Administration of Industry & Commerce (SAIC).

According to a StarcraftWire.net story, and member Kuangtu, the registration's meaning of "astrology" and "Ghost" stands in contrast to "socialist morality" and would promote "feudal superstition."

Fail communism.

Blizzard has announced today, in a press release on their European Web site, when and where their fourth Blizzcon gaming convention will be held.

This years’ extravaganza will emanate from the usual place, the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA, on August 21 and 22.

2008’s convention was an unbelievable experience for me personally, as I got to play a very solid multiplayer build of StarCraft 2, as well as the first ever public hands-on with Diablo III. The world got it’s first glimpse at the StarCraft Trilogy and plenty of great online interviews with Diablo and StarCraft developers.

Last year’s convention was bigger than the previous year’s, and this year’s convention aims to be even more outrageous. The growing popularity of the now annual event has caused Blizzard to reserve another convention hall to support the anticipated crowds. Hopefully this year’s ticket sales will go smoother than last’s.

What can we expect at this year’s convention? Find out after the jump.

While the 2008 Activision Blizzard Q4 Earnings Call revealed that even the goliath video game publisher isn't immune to the effects of the sagging economy, Chief Operating Officer Paul Sams did have some uplifting news for StarCraft fans.

Sams didn't come right out and say that SC2 will release in 2009, but he did say that Blizzard has committed to releasing one major title a year. Since Chris Sigaty and Samwise Didier both confirmed to me at Blizzcon that Diablo III would indeed launch after the much anticipated RTS, it's a safe bet that SC2 is coming in 2009.

Also coming up in the months ahead will be the StarCraft II beta test. The beta will be played on a basic version of our new Battle.net architecture, which will give us the opportunity to test the game and the service in a live environment. Over time, we will be adding features to deliver a second generation Battle.net experience.

-Paul Sams, COO Activision-Blizzard