South Korean website Sports Seoul is reporting new rumors concerning a supposed remastered version of the original StarCraft that Blizzard would be preparing to launch this year. This new version would implement high resolution graphics and update the Battle.net service, with the objective of promoting the game in eSports circles.
The information would come from sources in the industry, that got a heads up from Blizzard itself during the past BlizzCon game festival in November. The details of this remaster would have been revealed only to personalities involved with eSports, such as broadcasters, sponsors and important stakeholders.
With this focus on competitive multiplayer, it’s logical that the update of the game’s Battle.net connection would be the main focus of this new edition. Apparently Blizzard would like to make a shift to the current version of its online platform, which currently supports Diablo 3 and StarCraft 2 itself, but it would like to keep the visual appearance of the original version, in order to retain the spirit of the classic release as much as possible.
Aside of the Battle.net update, the game would not receive substantial changes
Aside of the Battle.net update, the game would not receive substantial changes, keeping the gameplay from the Brood War expansion intact but reworking the graphics in order to achieve higher resolution. That means that the focus of developers would be to match the game performance and operability of the original, not going beyond the original’s game speed but also not falling short.
With the return of StarCraft as a current production for e-Sports, Blizzard would have achieved a varied catalogue of titles for official competitions, including Overwatch, Diablo 3, and both StarCraft entries.
“StarCraft: Remastered” would be unveiled very soon, with the source of the rumor saying it could be done as soon as next week, and it would be aiming for a worldwide release in May or June. The announcement would take place in South Korea, which is one of the most important territories for eSports events, and it was also the place where StarCraft 2 was announced in 2007.
Sports Seoul even quotes an official representative of Blizzard acknowledging the rumors, saying: “We are aware of external rumors about the Star 1 remaster version.” If there’s any truth or not to this information, we’ll find out soon enough.