Blizzard Arcade – Free To Play

Blizzard recently announced that they are now granting completely free and open access to the Blizzard Arcade system in Star Craft II.

You can make a starter account for FREE, and get some very generous access to the game (SCII) including: all maps for custom games, all arcade games, and the last time I checked, you get to play the first FIVE campaign missions as well (the SCII campaigns are SO good).

I’m trying to figure out where the money will come from to fund free access to this stuff, and I honestly hope it won’t push blizzard to start locking the things we enjoy (for free, right now) behind micro-transactions. I understand that this is the direction the gaming industry is going, but personally it hurts me in my big warm fuzzy secret heart. What can they keep behind micro-transactions in Star Craft anyway, besides vanity stuff (that i’m totally cool with paying for)? Will we see some kind of Blizzard Arcade currency system? Credits? Will we be able to cash in tickets for a giant stuffed zergling?

Hmm. Uh, that’s actually a great idea, I want a giant stuffed zergling. Full speed ahead, Blizzard. Let’s make this happen.

Seriously though, on the plus side this opens up the game a bit more to a larger audience (+ for Blizz games in general). I’m definitely a fan of this  move, even though I stopped spending time in the arcade long ago. They do have some pretty awesome games, and they’re sure to have many more now that the arcade developer community will have a bigger incentive to create fun games for the arcade. I’m thinking the major motivation here might be to push advertising for the other games currently live and in development. I imagine we’ll see more flashy adverts for Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm once those are fully launched, micro-transactions and all.

Anyway, watch the video! Kevin Johnson has such an epic beard. Seriously, that thing is glorious. What do you think about the Blizzard Arcade? Let us know!

Get Star Craft II: Free Starter Edition