StarCraft II pushed out to 2010

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Artwork from StarCraft II, a sequel to the 1998 real-time strategy game. Credit: Blizzard Entertainment.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, the highly anticipated game from Blizzard Entertainment, is now expected to launch in the first half of 2010. The game had previously been expected to roll out this year.

The delayed launch will ‘coincide with the relaunch of [Blizzard’s] upgraded Battle.net online gaming service,’ according to a press release from parent company, Activision Blizzard. The original game, released in 1998, has garnered a fiercely loyal following, having sold more than 11 million copies.

The reason for the delay, it seems, is the Battle.net revamp, according to a statement from Blizzard:

Over the past couple of weeks, it has become clear that it will take longer than expected to prepare the new Battle.net for the launch of the game. The upgraded Battle.net is an integral part of the StarCraft II experience and will be an essential part of all of our games moving forward. This extra development time will be critical to help us realize our vision for the service.

The Santa Monica game publisher also said it will push out the release of another game, Singularity. Without those two titles, Activision said its revenue for the year would decline to $4.05 billion, down from a previous estimate of $4.3 billion.

For the second quarter, Activision posted revenue of $1.038 billion, roughly even with $1 billion from a year earlier. Net income rose to $195 million, or 15 cents a share, up from $28 million, or 5 cents a share, last year.

-- Alex Pham

This post has been updated to include a statement from Blizzard Entertainment and more details from Activision’s second quarter financial results.

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