With the resurgence in popularity of StarCraft: Brood War, it seems a ‘HD’ version is in the works, at least according to Korean news site Naver.com. Blizzard will apparently announce it during September, with more details given at BlizzCon in November. This tallies with a rumour PCGN had also heard but we were unable to confirm.
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According to Naver’s sources, which are described as being familiar with internal Blizzard new, the plan is to have an improved UI and graphical capabilities while maintaining the same feel of Brood War classic. Community hopes are that this means a nicer looking game that keeps the 12-unit and single-building selection limit, same field of view, plus all the dodgy bugs and mechanics that come with a game from 1998.
That same community is cautiously excited, at least judging by the TeamLiquid thread that first pointed out the article and Reddit thread in reference to it. The important thing to note here is the absolute knife edge on which Brood War is balanced – increased fields of view, easier army control, everything you might associate with modernising a game could ruin it completely.
We’ve reached out to Blizzard for any more information, though they’re yet to reply. If the rumour is true, the announcement date is a very strange choice. Between Gamescom the month before, which the company essentially runs as a EU BlizzCon, and BlizzCon itself two months later, September isn’t a choice date for them to announce it.
Kotaku point out that one of the final stops of the World Championship Series, the Copa Intercontinental, takes place in September. StarCraft-related announcements have happened at these season-ending events before, most notably the Legacy of the Void opening cinematic and release date reveal in Kraków, Poland last year.
It’s also possible that this is related to the signs of a new Brood War patch that were also posted on the TeamLiquid forums earlier this year. Whether that is a precursor to a HD version, or crossed wires and mis-translations have confused it for a HD version, remains to be seen. It’s likely being worked on by the employee(s) Blizzard hired specifically to improve support for their old games. This has lead to official forums for them, where those employees post irregularly to address problems and talk about possible features for future patches for StarCraft: Brood War, Diablo II and Warcraft III.
Gamescom’s the next time we’re likely to hear anything major from big blue – look there for further updates.