MCV: Trade plays it safe to increase chance of Q4 profits – as key IP is pushed back to 2010
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VG247: Speaking in the Acti Blizz Q2 earnings call tonight, Blizzard boss Mike Morhaime caved tonight on the subject of whether or not two Blizzard games would release next year, saying it was "correct to conclude" that StarCraft II's now-confirmed delay into 2010 means the publisher's about to double up.
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VG247: The upgraded Battle.net needs extra development time to be critical to Activision's vision for the service, according to a mailer just sent our way.

The service will now launch in early 2010. StarCraft II has now been delayed to match its release.
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As part of their second quarter earnings release, Activision announced that Starcraft II would be delayed until 2010.
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A few months ago Blizzard announced their Pay per View offer which allows the viewer to watch everything BlizzCon for a fee. Today they revealed that the tournaments streams will be available through their website free of charge.
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Activision Blizzard shares have slumped 14 percent in the last month, MarketWatch reports, as investors seemingly fret over the possibility that Blizzard's PC real-time strategy game StarCraft II may not make the 2009 calendar year.

But with Activision-owned Infinity Ward on track to launch the first-person shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 to masses of frothing gamers, investors might have little to worry about.

Blizzard has gone on record to say that it hopes to release StarCraft II, the sequel to the 1998 original, sometime by the end of 2009. But the studio, known for World of Warcraft and its virtually peerless roster of successful games, still clung to the policy of "it's done when it's done."

Pachter said that when the game does ship, he expects it to sell 4 million units in its opening quarter. At $40 wholesale ($50 retail), that would equate to $160 million in revenues for Activision Blizzard. Operating profit could hit $80 million, he said, or 4 cents per share.
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As gamers head into the 2009 holiday season, one of the biggest question marks has been StarCraft II. Blizzard has said that they are doing their best to have it out this year, but analysts aren't so sure it will happen. And now investors are getting jittery.

Marketwatch is reporting that Activision Blizzard has seen its share price drop 14 percent over the past month, due in large part to fears that StarCraft II will be delayed into the next year. According to Brean Murray analyst Jess Lubert, the prospect of a 2009 release is looking increasingly bleak.

"The beta testing for StarCraft hasn't started yet. If it starts in August and takes 5-6 months, then launching the game this year is next to impossible," he said.
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Online petitions may seem a dime a dozen, but the petition to Blizzard Entertainment to restore LAN support in StarCraft II has more than a handful of respondents. A lot more. As of Monday afternoon, there were more than 56,625 "signatures" on the petition, which began after Blizzard late last month announced that it would not support LAN play in its upcoming real-time strategy sequel. Instead, the company said that it would only support multiplayer through its Battle.net online service. Indeed, Blizzard plans a massive overhaul to Battle.net for StarCraft II, with enhanced stat tracking, improved spectating features, and more.
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Ben Charny Of Dow Jones Newswires writes:

"Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) will delay releasing its new "Singularity" shooting game until 2010, the company said amid speculation it will push back the release of another potential top-selling videogame."
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Activision is as pumped for Infinity Ward's release of Modern Warfare 2 as we fans, so much so that they are pushing back Singularity so it doesn't get hurt.

StarCraft II has been optimistically slated for a late '09 release, but with its beta already held up, and Acti left doubtless Modern Warfare 2 will over shadow everything, it too could see 2010.
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StarcraftWire.net reviewed the Tokyopop manga StarCraft: Frontline Vol. 3. Is it worth a read? Does it have anything to do with Starcraft II? The answer is very straight-forward. The four stories contained within this manga are thrilling. Starcraft II fans will quickly be addicted to these canon stories.
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This week the Internet erupted into its latest games industry "scandal" - Blizzard has removed LAN play from its upcoming strategy sequel StarCraft II, forcing multiplayer gamers to log in to the Battle.net service. Some people have taken an accusatory stance toward Blizzard on this little detail, even to the point where the controversy has begun to overshadow the flood of hype-building, detail-filled game previews that hit the Web at the start of the week. Petitions have been opened online. Commenters swear they won't buy the game on principle.
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Blizzard Entertainment filed a new trademark titled Cataclysm with the US Trademark and Patents Office.
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Remember how there was a minor issue with StarCraft fans over the fact that two of the original game's voice actors would not be returning to voice those same roles for StarCraft II?

Well those folks can rest easy now as one of those voice actors, Robert Clotworthy, has confirmed with Starcraftwire.net that he will indeed return to handle the voice acting duties of Jim Raynor for Blizzard's long awaited RTS sequel..
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Many gamers have been heated when the confirmation broke out yesterday about Starcraft 2 not supporting lan. So furious that over 7,000 fans have signed a petition to Blizzard to add Lan support. Today, Blizzard reps have made a few posts defending their decision and addressing concerns fans may have.
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Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey says that despite the promise of holiday success for games like DJ Hero and Tony Hawk: Ride, Activision's year end could see some snags -- chief among them the increasing likelihood that Starcraft II won't make this calendar year.

Although Blizzard's not yet pinned a specific release date for the game, it's maintained a 2009 window. But Starcraft II lead designer recently told consumer weblog Kotaku that the team plans to have a beta that will last "four to six months," leading Hickey to conclude: "We find it increasingly probably that the game will be released in [Activision's] fiscal '10 period."
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Today the wraps came off a number of previews of Blizzard's StarCraft II, and the Internet was flooded with information about the PC strategy sequel as if a celebrity had just died. Fans have awaited the game for ten years, while the still thriving audience of hardcore StarCraft I players have nervously kept at their game, wondering if the new millennium's take on the RTS classic would invalidate their decade of practice. The game industry's online press attended a preview session at Blizzard HQ in California last week, and the general consensus is that it's like returning to one's own hometown after being gone for ten years: a lot's changed, but it's still undoubtedly home. And it feels good.
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StarCraft II are fans upset over Blizzard's decision to exclude local area network (LAN) game mode.

Yesterday IncGamers.com reported Blizzard has confirmed "no LAN mode" in StarCraft II, and the news spread quickly over the net. In just a day over 2500 fans have signed a petition asking Blizzard to consider including network multiplayer in addition to Battle.net in the game, and the number grows by the minute.
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VG247: Blizzard's confirmed to VG247 that StarCraft II will indeed lack LAN support, saying the decision to drop the feature was "difficult".

Last night's reports that no local multiplay is to be included in the game were met with general disbelief.
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Dustin Browder, lead designer on StarCraft II at Blizzard, revealed a bit more on Starcraft II's beta and release date. While they're still obviously not ready to commit to a release date (see: Blizzard), Dustin said that the StarCraft II beta is planned to last from four to six months.
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