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Starcraft II deploys 1.5 million in 48 hours

Wings of Liberty takes off as Blizzard's real-time strategy game lays claim to title of "fastest-selling strategy game of all time."

Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty is orchestrating a full-scale Zerg rush on gamers. Blizzard Entertainment today announced that its sci-fi real-time strategy game sold more than 1 million copies worldwide through its launch day, and 1.5 million within 48 hours of going on sale.

Maybe Blizzard can use the proceeds to get this guy some cream for those scars.

Maybe Blizzard can use the proceeds to get this guy some cream for those scars.

Blizzard proclaimed Starcraft II the fastest-selling strategy game of all time, as well as the best-selling PC game of 2010. In the company's announcement, an executive from GameStop went on the record calling Starcraft II the specialty retailer's "fastest-selling PC game since Blizzard launched World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King."

The second expansion to the hugely successful massively multiplayer online role-playing game, Wrath of the Lich King launched in November of 2008 and sold 2.8 million copies on day one. The game's first expansion was also an instant hit for Blizzard, selling 2.4 million copies on its January 2007 launch day. Not even those blockbusters could hold a candle to Blizzard parent company Activision's biggest hit, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which launched last November on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC, selling 4.7 million on its first day of sale and laying claim to the title of "largest entertainment launch ever."

Obviously, Starcraft II's debut is only the beginning of its sales story. Analysts have big expectations for Blizzard's latest, with estimates for the game's 2010 sales total reaching as high as 6.5 million copies.

As the first new stand-alone game from Blizzard since 2004's World of Warcraft, Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty focuses primarily on the human Terran faction with a 29-mission single-player campaign. However, the multiplayer component also lets gamers wage interstellar real-time strategy warfare as the hivelike Zerg and the technologically advanced Protoss factions. Two sequels focusing on those factions--Legacy of the Void and Heart of the Swarm--are also in development.

133 Comments

  • WillyChong

    Posted Aug 10, 2010 1:49 am GMT

    See, even Malaysia like me supported original game like Starcraft II, its not easy as you need to save up more than other games. But this game rock every soul who played it. My friends got my guest key and say that this is way better than other RTS games which respecrt the storyline rather than cheesy & silly storytelling, superb competitive multiplayer, tons of challenge, armory, archievement to unlock. This is a rare RTS game than gave both quality and quantity in terms of content. Yeah, it was a dissapoinment to have no LAN, but Battle.net is good and both I and my brother can connect locally thanks to the advanced Streamyx line. And you can played anywhere as long as you have your account and password.

  • Woodsburrow

    Posted Aug 10, 2010 12:47 am GMT

    As much as I'd love to see SC2 do just that, it's not a console game. MW2 blitzed PC, 360 and PS3. Most those sales on consoles. Still, it's the fastest selling RTS of all time. I wouldn't spit at that =)

  • athenian29

    Posted Aug 9, 2010 11:57 am GMT

    I wish Starcraft II had sold better than Modern Warfare 2. Not only is it a better game, but that would be a great message to send to Activision.

  • memrie

    Posted Aug 9, 2010 10:12 am GMT

    @Woodsburrow

    I don't think people read your post right, otherwise it would be thumbs up if they did, lol!

  • DahLong

    Posted Aug 8, 2010 9:53 pm GMT

    i have not play a single starcraft game before but since a lot of people like it, i'll get it too.

  • Inconnux

    Posted Aug 8, 2010 4:13 pm GMT

    in 10 years this game will still be on the charts, while MW2 will just be a bad memory.

  • MacenKrace

    Posted Aug 8, 2010 10:43 am GMT

    No reason to get a better PC... Well now you have one. I'll most likely get the other 2 as well.

  • UbeR_NooB_24

    Posted Aug 7, 2010 11:04 pm GMT

    the game is just solid gold!

  • magusat999

    Posted Aug 7, 2010 10:24 pm GMT

    And they keep saying that there is no market in PC games. They need to put this besides every article that they have written talking about PC gaming dying. Like I have been saying - it's the games not being developed, not a lack of willing gamers on the PC. I they released Ratchet and Clank on the PC they would see big figures (yes you can use a controller on the PC, before someone chimes in...).

  • schawnneo

    Posted Aug 7, 2010 8:54 pm GMT

    To Activision:
    Fix the damn 'auto shut down' bug in MW2 !!!

  • Hiroo4

    Posted Aug 6, 2010 1:06 pm GMT

    It's a super great game, but I would have liked Zerg and Protoss in the campaign simply to warm up for multiplayer.

  • rapiergv

    Posted Aug 6, 2010 6:46 am GMT

    korea = country

  • accretia27

    Posted Aug 6, 2010 5:20 am GMT

    Korea = money?

  • shaktisingh

    Posted Aug 6, 2010 1:56 am GMT

    It was bound to do well. But you have to applaud Activision's contribution to the game - charge $10 more for a third of the game.

  • blackfray

    Posted Aug 5, 2010 10:01 am GMT

    Deserved.

  • cyberdreamer

    Posted Aug 5, 2010 8:30 am GMT

    10 million is gonna be peaked for sure!

  • Briantb_2008

    Posted Aug 5, 2010 12:01 am GMT

    it kinda sucks that theres no campaign for the protoss or zerg but if you play the game its not missing anything without them. Plus it will be interseting how they play the story out in the next two starcraft 2 games. I know I'm looking forward to them

  • Woodsburrow posted Aug 4, 2010 7:20 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Woodsburrow

    Posted Aug 4, 2010 7:20 pm GMT (hide)

    Why did SC1 only have 1/3 Terran campaign!! It wasn't a full game!! Waaaaaa!

  • Pinguicha

    Posted Aug 4, 2010 6:31 pm GMT

    StarCraft II is a good game, but still... Good marketing does wonders and Blizzard certainly knows that.

  • DMWhiteDragon

    Posted Aug 4, 2010 4:58 pm GMT

    Nit-picking at the irrelevant details is quite useless and adds nothing to the discussion.

    There is 29 missions in the campaign and its a Terran campaign (who cares if a couple are protoss controlled or based on choices made etc, that's all flavor... if you have a problem with those small things, you are simply arguing for the sake of it)

    That's the content you paid for which is what people are moaning about... and its more than what you got with starcraft 1.

    If you were stupid enough to not know about the game before you bought it, then that's your problem... it was well known beforehand , i got exactly what i wanted and what i paid for in game play, features and fun.

    More community features, better modding tools, better presentation (game and videos).... and instead of 3 'ok' campaigns you get a single 'great' one with 2 more to come? You would have to be a complete whinger to have issues with that.

    If you like the campaign game play at all you would be happier with this way as the story is A LOT more realised than starcraft 1 ever was.... boo hoo you have to pay a little amount of money for a game, get a job.

    Compare the price of going to a movie; hour for hour, you'll still end up way out on top on cost ratio.

    So stop being little #$%^&%#$, if you don't like it that's perfectly fine. But stop attacking the general public who does, it makes you look stupid

  • game_gt3 posted Aug 4, 2010 4:37 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    game_gt3

    Posted Aug 4, 2010 4:37 pm GMT (hide)

    the terran campaign has 26 missions total not 29. there are a few protoss missions as well. the bigest blizz strength is story but i found it a little stupid. there is 1 main story and many side missions with their own story but they were in some terms involved with the main. the stupid thing is that in campaign u have too many units and u can have super upgrades making the game critically unbalanced. for instance - thors that self repair, sience vesels repairing the thors, scvs repairing the thors and once a thor dies it rebuilds automatically= immortal army. this works for every mech unit - battlecruisers, siege tanks and all, oh and siege tanks do 100 and more dmg and in multy it does 50.

  • Paskiewicz

    Posted Aug 4, 2010 12:21 pm GMT

    wants one after playing Company of Heroes

  • Yajarobi

    Posted Aug 4, 2010 8:47 am GMT

    Blew my expectations out of the water. a ton more content, fun, graphics are amazing on low settings. Can talk to people on WoW. Simply gold, friggen, gold...

  • bignick217

    Posted Aug 4, 2010 8:37 am GMT

    @RedStar

    Fair enough... I forgot about that little technicality. So I'll be a little more specific...

    25 Missions to the Campaign (Play-Through)
    26 Different Maps possible to the Campaign (while only 25 will be played in a single play-through)
    29 Mission Scenarios possible to the Campaign. (while only 25 will be played in a single play-through)

    Is that better.

  • Ladiesman17

    Posted Aug 4, 2010 8:15 am GMT

    Waiting Diablo 3!! Blizzard need new mind-bending IP(s)

  • LTMarine

    Posted Aug 4, 2010 7:38 am GMT

    too bad it got cracked so fast ,people who only wanted to get it for sp downloaded it from torrents or w/e they are using ,im not saying that everyone did this but i can see that 4000+ people already downloaded it from a local torrent site and 700 still downloading and that site has only 150000 users ,lets hope that multiplayer helps it get alot more sequels and expansions ,best rts ive ever played.

  • soolkiki

    Posted Aug 4, 2010 6:06 am GMT

    @Gelugon_baat
    Okay, I wasn't aware of it being that complicated! And I am soooooooo glad that Bobby isn't in the Direction area, because we all know what would happen then. I just hope his influence doesn't go to other people in the company.

  • cyberslik posted Aug 4, 2010 4:33 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    cyberslik

    Posted Aug 4, 2010 4:33 am GMT (hide)

    ahh,blizzard one company u can call a game company!!!not a money vacuum to suck u dry for sum 2bit piece of trash software them may call a game.

  • ccgod posted Aug 4, 2010 4:24 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    ccgod

    Posted Aug 4, 2010 4:24 am GMT (hide)

    Hopefully diablo 3 isn't a different game for each class

  • rapiergv

    Posted Aug 4, 2010 4:19 am GMT

    all people that say that SC2 is just a remake, and think they're original and think outside the box and outside the hype, actually aren't. they had their hopes really high due to the big promotion campaingn by blizzard, and they expected the second coming of Jesus. Instead, think about this you narrow-minded trolls, if you say that SC2 is just a remake, because it just adds some new units and stuff but the core gameplay is unchanged, then what about FIFA and HALO and GOD OF WAR and any other friggin game? THINK ABOUT IT. sorry for capsing

  • adilejaz

    Posted Aug 4, 2010 4:01 am GMT

    Tidal_Abyss
    will it work with DOW2 as well?? I mean can we assign keys from the keyboard to the 12 buttons grid and use them as substitutes in game like hotkeys??

  • BornGamer

    Posted Aug 4, 2010 3:20 am GMT

    Hope they manage to remove Activision's stench from Bnet2.

  • hotso

    Posted Aug 4, 2010 3:06 am GMT

    I'm getting so tired of some few commenters whining that this is a 1/3 of a game for full games price. It's a full priced game with a full length campaign that just happens to concentrate on Terran, but also has a few quests long Protoss storyline too.

  • Rudorlf

    Posted Aug 4, 2010 1:05 am GMT

    Wonderful (Haven't get one yet, but will), but I'm still waiting for a patch from Blizzard (If there is one.) that let us play LAN.

  • grigjd3

    Posted Aug 4, 2010 12:50 am GMT

    @Deano, the one campaign really is pretty large if compared to other RTS games made lately. The only problem I see is that by the time the protoss game comes out, I stand a good chance of being bored.

  • MortorVos

    Posted Aug 4, 2010 12:38 am GMT

    Is all good & well now get to work on finishing & making awesome DIABLO 3.

  • Tidal_Abyss

    Posted Aug 4, 2010 12:15 am GMT

    Seems good, but I'll wait until all 3 parts are released. StarCraft 1 BattleChest will do until then, not to mention my other RTS's. (Little Tip to RTS fans, ever try using the Razer Naga 17 button rts mouse?! It's awesome and so helpful, customization is the name of the game www.razerzone.com ).

  • WiredDreemz

    Posted Aug 3, 2010 11:59 pm GMT

    Bear in mind that is

  • Deano posted Aug 3, 2010 10:46 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Deano

    Posted Aug 3, 2010 10:46 pm GMT (hide)

    only blizzard could get people to shell out full price for 1/3 of a game. I would prefer to play this for the single player and this is probably the first blizzard game that isn't going to be on my buy list till ALL 3 campaigns are included. No other game company has the audacity to short change it's consumers so blatantly. I swear they will charge full price for the other 2 titles as well making this the most expensive game in history. Considering how much they make per month in WoW subscriptions they could GIVE this game away.

  • cookiemcs

    Posted Aug 3, 2010 10:30 pm GMT

    to davo-c what next is World of Warcraft Cataclysm the third expansion

  • Davo-C

    Posted Aug 3, 2010 10:15 pm GMT

    The real question is... What next?

    Diablo 3 or Starcraft II; Heart of the Swarm?

  • Chrypt22

    Posted Aug 3, 2010 9:31 pm GMT

    What was that? PC gaming is dead?? Ohhh ok. Ill just put this one on the "nothing to see here" list.

  • Damascuss posted Aug 3, 2010 8:58 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Damascuss

    Posted Aug 3, 2010 8:58 pm GMT (hide)

    @DragonRift

    The fact that most people are easily amused doesn't exactly surprise me. Look at CoD, it's popularity is unbelievable, but once picked apart it's just an ordinary shooter. I never said you couldn't like this game, or anybody else for that matter. Are you typically this defensive? I shared my opinion, which I'm sure will be hidden within hours because there are more of those like you then myself. The games popularity doesn't bother me, but nice try, this is always a nice simple argument that average fad following folks like you use. In the end, it's about what makes this game worth playing. The graphics? Enchanting. I'll stick with SC1 or something actually good, like Sins of a Solar Empire. Btw nice line,"if you've actually played it" . Another simple response, can I respond with "if you actually knew I've played it". Hi, beta tester here. And since I've played it, I'm sharing my opinion. End Result: GAME SUCKS. Thanks Ollie.

  • Gelugon_baat

    Posted Aug 3, 2010 8:26 pm GMT

    @soolkiki

    soolkiki wrote:
    Thank you, and you're right, I reallllly don't like this Bobby dude. It is kind of killing me that Blizzard sided with him cause he's been destroying other "would have been great" games. I just hope they don't go with him on Diablo 3

    Blizzard didn't side with Activision, at least not willingly. Blizzard was originally its own company. It was acquired by several other companies, before landing in Vivendi Games' ownership.

    Some time after that, Vivendi Games was bought by and merged with Activision, which promptly ditched or mothballed just about everything Vivendi had but kept the most famous (& most money-making) bits - namely Blizzard - and then formally took on Blizzard's name just for that artificial boost in prestige.

    I am hoping Robert Kotick won't touch Diablo 3 too much too. He may be president of the Activision Blizzard group, but he's not the Board of Directors - who are likely well aware of his exceptionally greedy tendencies.

  • Pete5506

    Posted Aug 3, 2010 7:58 pm GMT

    The game is so much fun, worth the money any day

  • Jrock7

    Posted Aug 3, 2010 7:57 pm GMT

    @ GameFan1983

    DOW was sick, my favorite RTS. But it went completely a different way with the 2nd game. Kinda sad. Starcraft 2 is a great RTS. I'm glad Blizzard didn't change the base building RTS style, but also added a lot more as well. Reason I bought it on day 1. Play it every day and night with lack of sleep too. But I agree, if DOWIII goes back to the RTS base management it will be a much greater game.

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