when did starcraft 2 become free to play
During BlizzCon 2017
title: StarCraft II in esports text: went to funding "StarCraft II" esports, and the funding target for BlizzCon 2017, a crowdfunding of $200,000, was reached within the first of three stages of the crowdfunding. The rest of the funds gained went into funding other events throughout the following months and year. New War Chests were released for both the IEM World Championship 2018, raising the prize pool by the targeted $150,000 within the first stage again, and BlizzCon 2018, raising the prize pool by the targeted $200,000 within the first stage once more. During BlizzCon 2017, Blizzard Entertainment announced that "StarCraft II" would become free-to-play starting title: StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty text: well, giving Blizzard greater control over how the game is used. Concerns have been raised by Public Knowledge over how the altered EULA may affect multiplayer tournaments not endorsed by Blizzard. On August 3, 2011, Blizzard replaced the previously available "StarCraft II" demo with the new "StarCraft II: Starter Edition". It allows anyone to play part of the game for free and it comes as a 7 GB package downloaded using the Blizzard Downloader client. The "Starter Edition" is available for Mac and Windows, and requires a Battle.net account and an Internet connection to play. Blizzard entered into a co-marketing title: StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm text: 4, during BlizzCon 2017, Blizzard Entertainment announced that "StarCraft II" would be re-branded as a free-to-play game hence opening the multiplayer to everybody and bringing some changes to previously paid features of the game. The "Wings of Liberty" campaign was made completely free while the campaigns for "Heart of the Swarm" and "Legacy of the Void" still had to be paid for. However, those who had already bought "Wings of Liberty" before the free-to-play announcement would be gifted the "Heart of the Swarm" campaign free of charge. This new free-to-play model and changes to the availability of the campaigns was title: StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm text: No actual release dates were specified. As of June 15, 2012, the game was primarily complete. The only unfinished thing is "tuning and polishing". On August 15, 2012, Blizzard announced that the multiplayer beta would be beginning soon. As of September 4, 2012, Blizzard began closed beta testing of the multiplayer beta, releasing it to select Pro-gamers, members of the press, Arcade contest winners, and shoutcasters. The beta testers were not under a non-disclosure agreement, so they were free to stream their games, release pictures, etc. The "Heart of the Swarm" beta closed on March 1, 2013. Blizzard officially released title: StarCraft text: had been contracted for and that the game would be delivered on time. The game was never released. "StarCraft II" was announced on May 19, 2007, nearly a decade after the original, at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in Seoul, South Korea. "StarCraft II" was being developed, under the codename "Medusa", for concurrent release on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Mac OS X. Blizzard announced a release date for July 27, 2010. Development on the game began in 2003, shortly after "" was released. The soundtrack for the original "StarCraft" was provided by Glenn Stafford, Jason Hayes and Tracey W. Bush.