WSJ retracts $100 million Starcraft II budget claims
[UPDATE] Leading financial daily yanks report that Blizzard spent a not-small fortune developing sequel to popular sci-fi RTS, due out next week.
The original Starcraft was released some 12 years ago and has become one of the most popular PC titles ever, selling over 11 million units to date. The first entry in the game's sequel, following years of fan anticipation, arrives in two weeks bearing an unprecedented budget.
According to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Activision Blizzard has spent over $100 million on the three-part sequel to the science-fiction real-time strategy game, which kicks off with Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty on July 27.
The report stated the $100 million was purely development price and made no mention of marketing expenditures. That lofty figure well exceeds Gran Turismo 5's $60 million development cost, one of the most expensive video games to date.
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has previously labeled the Starcraft franchise as one of the company's seven "pillars of opportunity." Kotick said each pillar has the potential to reap between $500 million and $1 billion of operating profit for the publisher throughout its life. The other pillars are Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, World of Warcraft, Diablo, new Blizzard MMOG, and Bungie's new intellectual property.
Kotick wasn't the only Activision Blizzard executive speaking about the game though. Blizzard president Mike Morhaime told the paper that the publisher should be able to migrate some of its World of Warcraft subscribers to Starcraft II.
"We've brought in a lot of new players in the beta testing who've been playing World of Warcraft but have never tried Starcraft," Morhaime said.
For more on the game, check out GameSpot's most recent preview.
MultiVersus Looks To Return With A Bang After Risky Hiatus Senua's Saga: Hellblade II GameSpot Review Hades 2 Early Access GameSpot Video Review Ranking Warhammer 40,000 Video Games - Tier List MY HERO ULTRA RUMBLE – Season 5 Content UpdateTrailer Street Fighter 6 - Akuma Update Launch Trailer Historian & Armor Expert Reacts to Total War: Warhammer 3's Factions & Units Battlefield 2042 | Future Strike – Time-Limited Event Trailer Kingmakers – Official "Wreak Havoc" Vehicle Destruction Gameplay Trailer Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree Story Trailer Breakdown and Lore Discussion The First Descendant│Official Dev Talk│Story Deep Dive Trailer System Shock – Console Launch Trailer
Please enter your date of birth to view this video
By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's
Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com
Join the conversation