Starcraft Universe Is Now in Open Beta; Full Launch in a Month

Jul 29, 2016 at 11:00am EDT

You might have read about Starcraft Universe somewhere. If not, it's a Free to Play mod for Starcraft II which transforms the game into a Multiplayer Online RPG.

The project by Upheaval Arts raised $84,918 on September 11, 2013 via Kickstarter. It's been a long way, but the Open Beta is finally live on Battle.net and the full launch will happen in a month from now.

Over five years ago, myself, a creative developer, and Philipp Meyer, a brilliant programmer, began developing a ‘World of StarCraft’ prototype using the StarCraft II Engine. Neither of us knew of each other’s projects, until one day we discovered one another and joined forces to build a small team, beginning work on what we wanted to be the biggest mod ever made… Not just a mod. A game. A complete transformation of the way StarCraft was played; Something the entire Blizzard community dreamed of for years.

We wanted to combine the third person action RPG elements of World of WarCraft, the combat mechanics of Diablo, and the starship mechanics of FTL with the StarCraft setting. We wanted the game to be completely voice acted with a unique story, custom art assets, and a fresh musical score. We wanted it to open with a breathtaking CG cinematic, inspired by Blizzard Entertainment’s dedication to high production values.

And so they did. You can find below a cinematic and a gameplay trailer for Starcraft Universe.

Here's the premise of the storyline, in case you're curious.

StarCraft Universe tells a story set in an alternate reality, where the ending of StarCraft II:Wings of Liberty has a grim conclusion for Kerrigan. Without the Queen of Blades to stop the hybrid’s assault, the protoss are overwhelmed and defeated. In this reality, what would the survivors of these shattered worlds do? StarCraft Universe tells this story.

About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.

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