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.