StarCraft II beta

The StarCraft II beta is a testing phase of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. It was released on February 17th, 2010.

The release of StarCraft II had been delayed to mid-2010 to give adequate time to prepare battle.net.

The beta will not be initially available to Macintosh users.

The beta is expected to last three to six months. After the initial wave of invites, which will include both those who opted-in and those who received beta keys, more players will be added when use drops or they need to test more users. Blizzard will not make the beta available in all areas at the same time. Blizzard will release the beta in different regions individually, as they set up beta-testing infrastructure in each region. Blizzard plans to have all regions tested within a month.

The purpose of a beta is to have a large number of users testing for bugs. Blizzard will also use the beta to test StarCraft II's multiplayer balance. Blizzard expects to make changes once a week, but can make changes daily if necessary. In order to process the large volume of feedback, some information will be collected by surveys.

Features
StarCraft II beta is downloaded from a tester's battle.net account.

Users login with a two-part nickname (eg Mario.Clan), but usually only the first part of the nickname will show.

StarCraft II beta is multiplayer only and will contain some battle.net 2.0 features (such as the friends list and party system). Cross-game functionality will not be present.

There may be access to the map editor during the beta process but not necessarily from the start. Blizzard believes that, if the beta is fast enough, it's not worth having the map editor usable during beta.

Voice chat is available between users and users can move together as parties, in a feature taking some reference from World of Warcraft.

Requirements

 * Windows XP SP3/Vista SP1/Windows 7
 * 2.2 Ghz Pentium IV or equivalent AMD Athlon processor
 * 1 GB system RAM/1.5 GB for Vista and Windows 7
 * 128 MB NVidia GeForce 6600 GT/ATI Radeon 9800 PRO video card
 * 1024x768 minimum display resolution
 * 4 GB free hard space (Beta)
 * Broadband connection

Beta Opt-In
As of May 6, 2009, beta candidates can download a program which will scan their system and determine if it's capable of dealing with the StarCraft II beta.

A large percentage of beta testers will be selected due to their computer specs to test the game on numerous hardware types.

The date which a potential tester opted-in will play no role in the selection process.

Beta testers will be added in phases, by region. North America and Australia will be first. Blizzard plans to have all regions tested within a month of the start of beta.

Beta Keys
Beta keys are a code which enables gamers to participate in the StarCraft II beta.

Codes received at WWI 2008 and BlizzCon 2008 can be used for StarCraft II beta keys. Approximately 20,000 beta keys were given away at BlizzCon 2008.

There were opportunities at BlizzCon 2009 as well.

Opportunities
Beta key opportunities included:


 * BlizzCast contests
 * Future Finding Jim Raynor screenshots (will be announced when it starts)
 * StarCraft II trivia

Fansite Beta Key Opportunities

 * Main article: Fansite Opportunities

Fansites will provide opportunities to win beta keys.