It was also all happening in an era where other games's esports were blossoming and elevating the entire scene across the industry, which was as exciting to watch as it was to participate in.
We'd approached StarCraft 2 with an eye for competitive play from its inception, but we had a more organic approach to how the esports scene would develop compared to our later, more curated efforts. KM: The sheer scale and spectacle of seeing the game played at that level, with that amount of attention was inspiring as a game developer.
STARCRAFT 2 GAME IS RUNNING PRO
Plenty of money in the scene, competitions like the IGN Pro League. The early days of StarCraft competition (2010 - 2012) were very strong. Ultimately the campaign became the place we got to indulge in some of the fun parts of creating additional races when we worked on things like the Xel'Naga and Hybrids. I was always interested in exploring adding a fourth race, but there were many compelling reasons to not do so. We knew that any talk of additional races would have to wait until we got the core three right, and as time has told we didn't branch beyond them. So much of that early work was surrounding making the three races feel true to the original with these new pivots without breaking the magic of the game. Striking that balance between staying true to SC1 and innovating for SC2 was a constant source of conversation and debate. It was very clear from early on that we were going to be reverential to and that we'd be building upon it with careful additions and changes rather than throwing out large swaths of the game or layering on dramatic additions. So, the first order of business was to recreate Brood War in Warcraft 3 and start prototyping ideas for SC2 while working on the new engine. The team was small and we were just getting started on our new game engine at the time. Kaeo Milker, Production Director: I joined StarCraft 2 as the game's first on-the-ground producer in February of 2005. Tell me about your first impressions of StarCraft 2? How did it initially compare to the original StarCraft? How did you feel about the decision to stick with the original three races? Blizzard pushed StarCraft 2's esports hard, and the competitive scene was initially very strong. StarCraft 2 was released in 2010 amid a large publicity campaign and plenty of excitement. Together they trace StarCraft 2's recent decade, discuss some of its biggest successes and controversies, and reflect on what they might have done differently given the chance. To that end, I spoke over email with Production Director Kaeo Milker, Game Designer Kevin Dong, and Designer Ryan Schutter, with pro StarCraft 2 player Lee "INnoVation" Shin Hyung also chipping in. The accepted wisdom is that MOBAs have overtaken the once-popular RTS genre, but StarCraft 2 still has plenty of fun, not to mention a robust competitive scene.Īs a lapsed fan who recently returned myself, I wanted to catch up with some of the key figures on StarCraft 2's development and beyond.
STARCRAFT 2 GAME IS RUNNING FULL
It's fair to say that it's been a rollercoaster decade for Blizzard's real-time strategy game, full of some strong highs and some powerful lows ( sidelong glance at the Swarm Host).