Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

‘StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty’ is now free to play, throws shade at ‘Battlefront II’

By

StarCraft II
Image used with permission by copyright holder
If you’ve been curious about the fuss surrounding StarCraft II but have never given it a go, now is the time to dive in. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty‘s latest update, which is live now, makes the real-time strategy game free to play. If interested, head over to the official StarCraft II website to download the game.

Blizzard celebrated the arrival with a cheeky 30-second ad that pokes fun at games perceived to have “pay-to-win” models such as Star Wars Battlefront II.

Recommended Videos

Number of pay-to-win mechanics in StarCraft II: 0

Free to Play – Now Live! pic.twitter.com/a02OYUCYZU

— StarCraft (@StarCraft) November 14, 2017

Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming
Check your inbox!
Privacy Policy

The free-to-play update was originally announced at BlizzCon 2017 by Blizzard Entertainment CEO and co-founder Michael Morhaime on November 3. And although the game’s three expansions — Heart of the Swarm, Legacy of the Void, and Nova Covert Ops — are not subject to the free-to-play model, if you already owned Wings of Liberty prior to October 31, you now have access to Heart of the Swarm for free. Each expansion can also be purchased for $15 a piece.

Additionally, if you purchased any version of StarCraft II prior to October 31 you should be receiving an Eidolon Ghost skin, and three portraits commemorating your founder’s status in-game.

Along with the campaign, everyone now has full access to the StarCraft II ranked ladder and to every co-op Commander in the game up to level five, including Kerrigan, Raynor, and Artanis. But Blizzard’s generosity doesn’t stop there, as everyone has free access to unranked and versus artificial intelligence modes, and ranked mode can be unlocked after achieving 10 First Wins of the Day in Unranked and Versus A.I.

Beyond the free-to-play update, new content has arrived in StarCraft II. A dual commander consisting of Mira Han for commanding fast-moving ground units, and Matt Horner for commanding high-powered Dominion air units is available now alongside a fresh co-op mission called “Part and Parcel.”

Here are the system requirements for StarCraft II and its expansions:

Minimum Recommended
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+		 Intel Core i5
AMD FX Series
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce 7600 GT
AMD Radeon HD 2600 XT
Intel HD Graphics 3000		 Nvidia GeForce GTX 650
AMD Radeon HD 7790
Memory: 2GB 4GB
Storage: 30GB 30GB
Display: 1024 x 768 1024 x 768
Operating system: Windows 10
Windows 8/8.1
Windows 7		 Windows 10 64-bit
Internet: Broadband Broadband

Updated to reflect that StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is now free to play.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Kevin Parrish
Kevin Parrish
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kevin started taking PCs apart in the 90s when Quake was on the way and his PC lacked the required components. Since then…
Power up your tech game this summer with Dell’s top deals: Upgrade for a bargain
Dell Techfest and best tech on sale featured.

One of the best times to upgrade your tech stack, be it your desktop, a new laptop, or some high-resolution monitors, is when great deals are to be had. Well, I'm here to share that thanks to Dell's top deals, you can power up your tech game and have most of the summer to make it happen. Maybe you're happy with your current system or setup. That's excellent, but you're likely considering upgrading somewhere, and that's precisely what these deals are all about. Dell has a smorgasbord of deals on laptops, desktops, gaming desktops, monitors, accessories, and so much more. We'll call out a few of our favorite deals below, but for now, know that you should be shopping this sale if you're interested in anything tech-related.

 
What summer tech should you buy in Dell's top deals?

Read more
I love the MacBook Pro, but this Windows laptop came surprisingly close
Apple MacBook Pro 16 downward view showing keyboard and speaker.

There are some great machines in the 15-inch laptop category, which has recently been stretched to include the more common 16-inch laptop. The best among them is the Apple MacBook Pro 16, which offers fast performance for tasks like video editing and the longest battery life.

The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 is aimed not only at other 16-inch Windows laptops but also at the MacBook Pro 16. It offers many of the same benefits but at a lower price. Can it take a place at the top?
Specs and configurations

Read more
How to set an ‘Out of Office’ message in Microsoft Teams
Person using Windows 11 laptop on their lap by the window.

Many people use Microsoft Teams regularly to communicate with colleagues both inside of the office and remotely. It is considered one of the most efficient ways to ensure you can stay in contact with the people on your team, but what if you need to let people know you’re not readily available? Microsoft Teams has a method for you to set up an "Out of Office" status for your profile to let staff members know when you’ll be gone for the afternoon, for several days on vacation, or for an extended period.
Where do I go to set up my ‘Out of Office’ status for Teams?
It is important to note that your Microsoft Teams and Outlook calendars are synced. This includes your out-of-office status and automatic replies. So, whatever you set up in Microsoft Teams will reflect in Outlook. Similarly, you can set up your out-of-office status in Outlook, and it will be reflected in Teams; however, the former has a more straightforward instruction.

First, you can click on your profile icon in Teams and go directly to Schedule an out of office, as a shortcut. This will take you to the settings area where you can proceed. You can also click the three-dot icon next to your profile icon, then go to Settings > General, then scroll down to the bottom of the page. There, you'll find out-of-office settings and click Schedule.

Read more