SC2: Heart of the Swarm Release, Preorder Info

Blizzard finally announced a definitive release date for Heart of the Swarm earlier today. The expansion pack hits on March 12, 2013 for $39.99.

Additionally, there are Digital Deluxe and Collector's Edition versions available for $60 and $80, respectively. The Digital Deluxe version adds a handful of skins and portraits for use in SC2 along with a pet for your World of Warcraft characters and zerg-like wings and a banner for Diablo III. The Collector's Edition includes all of that stuff plus a behind-the-scenes DVD, the game's soundtrack, an art book, and a mousepad. I could maybe see buying these if I still played WoW or D3, but then again I'm a cheap bastard.

The best preorder deal seems to belong to Amazon right now. While you don't get a price break, you do score access to the HotS beta. The game's Amazon page states that they'll email you a code "within 4 business days" so that you can get your frag on early. Pretty tempting.

My Take on the "Decline" of Starcraft II

The sky is falling, the sky is falling!

What's the deal with Starcraft II lately?

League of Legends is the most popular game in the world. Korean SC2 team Slayers is disbanding and three of their players are switching to LoL. Event prize money is stagnant and stream viewer numbers are down. The game's popularity is even dwindling in South Korea, a Starcraft hotbed for more than 10 years; SC2 isn't even among the top 10 games played in the country's "PC bang" LAN centers.

Is SC2 on the way out, or are these just growing pains?