In a not so surprising move, the Korean Games Ratings Board finally gave StarCraft 2 a 12+ rating. Given that the United States counterpart ESRB gave the game Teen rating, it was surprising to see the Adult Only rating slapped on the most anticipated sequel in computer game history. The StarCraft is a national sport in South Korea. And, the massive popularity is guarantee success for the sequel.
In a recent interview Blizzard PR manager Bob Colayco told MTV News that “The result of the appeal that we put into that rating is that StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is currently rated 12+ in the region.” Blizzard immediately appealed the ruling of Adult Only rating. It was odd as the first StarCraft did not merit an Adult Only rating. There was some speculation that the friction between the Korean gaming league, KeSPA, and Blizzard on licensing issue played some role in StarCraft 2 receiving the dreaded Adult Only rating. Regardless, the 12+ rating should insure that everyone in Korea will have access to this game when it launches.
In a stunning move, the StarCraft 2 will be free in South Korea. Well, not entirely free. Anyone with subscription to World of Warcraft will have access to play StarCraft 2 for free. In a recent press even in Seoul, Blizzard announced that anyone with active World of Warcraft subscribers would have access to play StarCraft 2. In essence, if you are already paying customer of World of Warcraft, you will be able to play StarCraft 2 for free. On the surface, the move might not make too much sense as South Korea is one of the biggest consumers of anything related to StarCraft. The StarCraft 2 will be a big success with or without this bundling system.
However, when you look at the overall numbers for World of Warcraft subscription, you notice that South Korea isn’t so sweet on World of Warcraft compared to StarCraft. StarCraft is by far the most popular in South Korea. Blizzard seems to be aiming to increase the subscription base of World of Warcraft where they take in monthly fee compared to free to play StarCraft once you purchase the game. This is a very aggressive move on Blizzard’s part to parlay the popularity of StarCraft into more revenue stream for the company. Overall, if you are subscriber to World of Warcraft, this is just another bonus. That is, if you live in South Korea.
Blizzard has indicated that the Australian gamers will only be able to play against its Southeastern Asian counterparts. Typically, Australian gamers were able to play against gamers from America and Europe without being locked into any certain region. Australia has always faced obstacle as they relate well to Europeans and Americans but are separated by big distance and time zone.
According to Blizzard, the move was made to ensure better connectivity and improved latency. However, the gamers in Australia are claiming that the overall ping is better when connected to US or European servers due to better infrastructure in those regions. Worse yet, Blizzard has no plan to install a local server on the island nation. Perhaps only way to get around this issue might be to purchase a US or European version of the game. However, I’m not sure if Blizzard will filter the IP to automatically connect the Aussie gamers to the Southeast Asian servers.
It’s given that South Korea and United States will have their own servers for StarCraft 2. However, not much else set for other regions. Rob Pardo of Blizzard has said they are looking into adding an Australian server for the StarCraft 2. Blizzard has said that the gaming base in Australian is growing big enough to warrant a discussion on adding a dedicated server in the region.
Since StarCraft 2 will lack any LAN support, all of the online players have to go through Blizzard’s Battlenet. This means people outside of United States or South Korea will have to connect to one of the servers that are natively dedicated to that region. This is especially true for the Australian gamers who are literally on their own island.
In a recent interview, Blizzard has stated that Germany’s version of Diablo 3 will be cut to accommodate the Germany’s rating board. This will be applied to Australian market as well. The exact change from the US version is still under discussion. However, there will be less enemies and/or blood in the Germany and Australian versions.
Allen Dilling, the lead 3D artist for StarCraft 2 has stated that StarCraft 2 will also be modified similar to Diablo 3 in Germany. The color of blood will be modified as well as the enemy unit counts. The mechanical units will not have to face any change. This is all to accommodate USK, the Germany rating board to rate the game so that 12 year old gamers can purchase the game without any problem.
The gamers in other parts will not have to worry about censorship. We will be able to enjoy all the blood and gore present in the unblemished version of the game. I can already see the gamers in Australia and Germany ordering the United States version of the game over the regional releases.