An upcoming patch will break Starcraft 2 players out of their region locked servers allowing them to play people from all over the world. Previously players were locked to playing matches within their own region, which created difficulties for eSports teams that were geographically distant.The patch, which is to be released in the coming months will let players select which region they would like to populate their game list with allowing them to play anyone, anywhere.
There are constraints to the new system, however.
Gosugamers spotted this blog post over on Starcraft 2’s dev blogwhich details some of the pluses of global play, despite more players for the duelling: “Global Play will give you access toStarCraft IIgame servers in regions outside your own, expanding the possibilities for eSports, exposing you to maps and games that aren’t yet published everywhere, and making it easy to play with your friends in other parts of the world.”
However, it’s not as simple as more games filling outyour quick match pool. Instead it’s more as though you have a separate instance of your game for each region “Each region will have separate profile data, meaning that characters, profiles, ladder rankings, progress, and friends lists will not carry over from region to region.”
While Blizzard will have more details soon, they’ve handily provided these bullet point details of the new system:
- Players will be able to freely switch between regions via the StarCraft II login screen.
- When your region’s game servers are undergoing maintenance, you may be able to play in a different region that is not down for maintenance.
- Your game language and user interface will not change when you change regions.
- Players using Global Play will be subject to the in-game policies of their selected play region.
This, along with the new clan and group support, suggests Starcraft 2’s future is one of a much more connected global community.