With the imminent arrival of Kerrigan and Heart of the Swarm on March 12, Earth awaits a global infestation. Blizzard Entertainment is preparing for the onslaught with a worldwide broadcast spanning 24 hours leading up to the launch of the game.
The Blizzard Global Invasion stream will feature top StarCraft II pro-gamers playing Heart of the Swarm show matches with your favorite casters narrating the action. It will also feature live demonstrations of new features in Heart of the Swarm, interviews with developers, fun videos and great prize giveaways.
Fans can either catch the entire celebration online or join the Blizzard festivities in person at official events in Melbourne, Australia; Seoul, South Korea; Versailles, France; and Irvine, California.
The fun starts exactly one day before release, at midnight PDT on March 10, and continues non-stop right through the last North American launch at midnight PDT on March 11. Go here for more details about the live regional events, as well as online casts in English and other languages.
Blizzard has invited the entire StarCraft community to join in the fun. Day[9]TV and TeamLiquid have joined forces to host an online community party which will alternate with the Blizzard program on the same stream. You can join in on the action by contributing content to be shown on stream!
We are organizing hours of entertaining video content by the likes of TotalBiscuit, scReddit, TeSPA, JP McDaniel, DJ Wheat, Soe, WhiteRa, Rosanna Pansino, Raelcun, Pomf et Thud, EG, ROOT, and more! Those who remember Day[9]'s 2010 Wings of Liberty Launch Party know how awesome this is, and this time around it will be even better.
We're featuring a HotS King of the Beta tournament, too, on Day[9]TV in the week leading up to the Launch Day with the finals aired right before the official Blizzard North American launch (see below).
We'll be broadcasting live from Blizzard headquarters right up until 9pm PDT in California, and then we'll be joining Blizzard live on stage at the Irvine Spectrum in Irvine, California to count down to the midnight release of the game and the final hours of the Blizzard Launch stream. Join Day[9], TeamLiquid and friends in person and celebrate! You can even pre-order a copy of HotS from GameStop, pick it up at the Irvine Spectrum store, and get it autographed by your favorite StarCraft folk! If you choose to pre-order online, make sure you select the Irvine Spectrum Center for store pickup -- enter the zip code 92618 during the preorder process to find the store.
Not in California? Download the game here off Battle.net or order from the TeamLiquid store.
We want you to be part of the fun. TL is running a series of contests over the next few weeks where you can submit your own hilarious videos (see below). The best will win awesome prizes and will be aired live in front of hundreds of thousands of viewers worldwide.
Take off from work on Monday March 11 and spend the day with us, invite your friends, then shout out to us live during the event! (Twitter hashtag: #SwarmLaunch)
Tune in live!
Heart of the Swarm King of the Beta Tournament
Quarter and Semi-finals Monday - Thursday, March 4-7 2013 at 7pm PDT on http://www.day9.tv
The 24 Hour Heart of the Swarm Global Invasion Stream
Tune in LIVE from 2am - 11:59pm (PDT) at www.twitch.tv/StarCraft to watch the entire event online! (English stream). Check out the schedule below for local times and other languages. Don't forget Daylight Savings Time!
Day[9]'s King of the Beta Tournament returns with 8 of the most popular and creative players from the HotS Beta. The tournament is a single elimination bracket with a prize pool of $3,500! The quarter finals and semi finals will be broadcast in the week leading up to the Launch Party, on Day[9]TV and the Grand Finals will be broadcast live on March 11th during the Heart of the Swarm Community Launch Party.
Community Contests
This is a community celebration, so Day[9]TV and TeamLiquid are reaching out to the community to help create the content. TeamLiquid is running a series of contests to create hilarious and amazing videos for the stream, and Day[9] and TeamLiquid will provide prizes for the best submissions! Head on over to this thread to see how you can participate and win some cool collectibles.
That is awesome business! Also I really really like the list of players that are in this tournament. 80-90% of them have been streaming on the regular in HOTS and deserve to be here.
On February 19 2013 07:29 janak1802 wrote: GoGo IdrA, hope you win, and make a HOTS comeback
... NOT!!!
This is gonna be awesome. I have the same feeling with every blizzard launch: ''man i cant believe they actually chose a date and are gonna stick to it''
On February 19 2013 07:30 Wampaibist wrote: who was king of the beta last time around, wasn't it idra? maybe he will keep his title
Yeah it was Idra, he beat Tester in the finals IIRC
Yes. It was a great tournament - IdrA BARELY won each of sets while Tester dominated the ones in his half of the bracket, yet IdrA still squeaked by in the finals with a 3-2 victory.
Although I wish we could play the game, instead of waiting for the servers to come on line /Cynicism
IdrA has a good shot at retaking his crown. Polt is good and so is early game terran, but Polt isn't playing that much now. Minigun has tons of anti-IdrA cheeses but he might not survive the rest to play him. The rest IdrA beats pretty often.
HYPE, hoping for the return of White-Ra in the tournament. And is it just me or does Catz look more like Pitbull every time a new pic of him comes out?
Pomf & thud, that's cool. They are finally recognized as the representative of the french speaker sc2 community They worked so hard for sc2 and esports (Iron Squid 2 and stuff).
On February 19 2013 07:53 Ghanburighan wrote: Sooo much content. That's going to be fun. + Show Spoiler +
Although I wish we could play the game, instead of waiting for the servers to come on line /Cynicism
IdrA has a good shot at retaking his crown. Polt is good and so is early game terran, but Polt isn't playing that much now. Minigun has tons of anti-IdrA cheeses but he might not survive the rest to play him. The rest IdrA beats pretty often.
What are you taking about? Polt has two HotS GM accounts. One is at some insane 93-13 record, and his current one is hovering around 75%. He's playing as much HotS as the rest of the people in the tournament.
Polt really should win this if he doesn't get cheesed out and plays seriously.
On February 19 2013 07:53 Ghanburighan wrote: Sooo much content. That's going to be fun. + Show Spoiler +
Although I wish we could play the game, instead of waiting for the servers to come on line /Cynicism
IdrA has a good shot at retaking his crown. Polt is good and so is early game terran, but Polt isn't playing that much now. Minigun has tons of anti-IdrA cheeses but he might not survive the rest to play him. The rest IdrA beats pretty often.
What are you taking about? Polt has two HotS GM accounts. One is at some insane 93-13 record, and his current one is hovering around 75%. He's playing as much HotS as the rest of the people in the tournament.
Polt really should win this if he doesn't get cheesed out and plays seriously.
Hmm.. Well, I didn't know about the second account. Need to take another look. I thought he might be busy after his move to the US which would explain the relative lack of activity.
I really like Polt and all, but I don't really want to see him in an 8 man tournament with 7 of my favorite old time foreigners who don't really stand a chance against a GSL champion Korean Terran...
Polt wins. Why is Rosanna gonna be there? Her only connection with Starcraft is being Husky's roommate, and unless she's being delicious baneling cupcakes for all those people, I'm not sure what she'll be doing
Cant wait to see Polt stomping everyone, its not even going to be funny how much he will outclass half of the players at least <3 I really want to see him play vs Idra, wanna see some rage :D
On February 19 2013 08:21 DavoS wrote: Polt wins. Why is Rosanna gonna be there? Her only connection with Starcraft is being Husky's roommate, and unless she's being delicious baneling cupcakes for all those people, I'm not sure what she'll be doing
She has a pretty big following on her channel now days, no reason to not invite people who love the game and can help expose it to more people.
On February 19 2013 07:53 Ghanburighan wrote: Sooo much content. That's going to be fun. + Show Spoiler +
Although I wish we could play the game, instead of waiting for the servers to come on line /Cynicism
IdrA has a good shot at retaking his crown. Polt is good and so is early game terran, but Polt isn't playing that much now. Minigun has tons of anti-IdrA cheeses but he might not survive the rest to play him. The rest IdrA beats pretty often.
What are you taking about? Polt has two HotS GM accounts. One is at some insane 93-13 record, and his current one is hovering around 75%. He's playing as much HotS as the rest of the people in the tournament.
Polt really should win this if he doesn't get cheesed out and plays seriously.
Hmm.. Well, I didn't know about the second account. Need to take another look. I thought he might be busy after his move to the US which would explain the relative lack of activity.
Just because Polt isn't hammering out ladder games ala Kas, does not mean he isn't prepared or playing less than anyone. SC2 is just as much more about strategizing and thinking than practicing games for hours upon hours. He has the record and skill to dominate anybody in this tournament, who might be playing more, but aren't equal to his level.
this is so awesome, i can't wait! Polt definately has this. This is going to be the best launch party ever.. im so hyped. I have class on the 12th but it will be a starcraft holiday
Quick question: It says Blizzard is going to alternate on the stream between Day[9] and TL.net. I'm planning on attending the Irvine community party; is Day[9] and TL not going to be at the Spectrum and only at the Blizzard HQ's or am I completely off here?
Poor Minigun and his player photo.... Its a little weird that no players in Korea are in the player pool (Polt is in the US). I'm talking about players like Thorzain who's been playing TONS of hots, or the other esf koreans. Oh well, its supposed to be a fun little tournament anyway.
Can't wait! I'm soo lucky to live in socal, csl finals, hots launch party and then mlg anaheim! I'm definitely going to the launch party. One question, do i need to pre-order hots at the gamestop at spectrum?
On February 19 2013 20:12 ScarPe wrote: i will only buy hots if at least 5 people thell me the story is good. blizzard has done too much shit these days.
The campaign will probably be good as far as gameplay goes but you're setting yourself up for disappointment if you're looking for top of the line storytelling.
i am a fan of this series since 1998 now, and WoL was just monemaking bullshit, like 6/23 missions were part of the direct story. in addition, they fucked up d3 too, even as all the players told them that they were doing bullshit.
i really think blizz has lost theri momentum and i will definetly pay for their lack of creativity again!
Sweet, the first launch event was a lot of fun to watch, great to see Day9 back in action Also, it's very nice that they give Polt this sponsorship.
On February 19 2013 22:26 ScarPe wrote: everyone is, they think there will be a reroll.... there will be NO reroll, as it just adds new strats but nothing new in terms of gameplay.
Huh, I don't understand, how is new units + new strats nothing new in terms of gameplay? Doesn't make sense.
Hope IdrA will fight hard for defending beta king title, it would be awesome if Blizz balanced game a little bit better till then. If it stays like it is now, Polt will crush everyone easily.
Very awesome, I'm glad that they did this with Day9 because that means the VODs will be easy to find. I'm really interested to see the state of the HotS metagame at the pro level.
Okay seriously when is this gaming launching becuase in this announcment it says "North American launch at midnight PDT on March 11" but i was under the impression that this was happening on the follwing night at midnight in between the 12th and 13th >_<
On February 20 2013 01:26 Siwelcela wrote: Okay seriously when is this gaming launching becuase in this announcment it says "North American launch at midnight PDT on March 11" but i was under the impression that this was happening on the follwing night at midnight in between the 12th and 13th >_<
It launches on the 12th, so you will be able to buy it at places with launch events (and start playing it) in the night between 11th and 12th. Preorders are likely to arrive some time before 12th as well (at least that is what my Amazon pre order tells me).
On February 20 2013 01:26 Siwelcela wrote: Okay seriously when is this gaming launching becuase in this announcment it says "North American launch at midnight PDT on March 11" but i was under the impression that this was happening on the follwing night at midnight in between the 12th and 13th >_<
It launches on the 12th, so you will be able to buy it at places with launch events (and start playing it) in the night between 11th and 12th. Preorders are likely to arrive some time before 12th as well (at least that is what my Amazon pre order tells me).
Well you may have missed the announcement that Amazon is sending there copies out at the earliest by the 18th.... thanks for the other information though
Okay, so I want to pre-order the collector's edition and pick it up at the Gamestop in Irvine at the Blizzard launch party. But apparently it won't let you do that: http://i.imgur.com/wGaQj2Q.png
On February 21 2013 03:08 Anjuu wrote: Okay, so I want to pre-order the collector's edition and pick it up at the Gamestop in Irvine at the Blizzard launch party. But apparently it won't let you do that: http://i.imgur.com/wGaQj2Q.png
I called GameStop a couple of weeks ago and they told me to pre-order in person. They won't take online or phone orders. I live about an hour away from Irvine and the drive was worth it.
On February 21 2013 03:08 Anjuu wrote: Okay, so I want to pre-order the collector's edition and pick it up at the Gamestop in Irvine at the Blizzard launch party. But apparently it won't let you do that: http://i.imgur.com/wGaQj2Q.png
I called GameStop a couple of weeks ago and they told me to pre-order in person. They won't take online or phone orders. I live about an hour away from Irvine and the drive was worth it.
Thanks! I couldn't even get them on the phone, but I'll try to drive down there!
On February 21 2013 09:21 OGMenardQc wrote: How much to enter at the Spectrum Centre in Irvine, California ?
GameStop is located in an outdoor mall at the Spectrum Centre in Irvine. There is no fee for the event. Just pre-order Heart of the Swarm at GameStop and attend the event on release night.
he couldve remaxed liek pure roaches there and just cleared morrows ground army and reset it til he had ultras out since he onlyt had 8k - 3k in his bank........ man watching idra is so painful these days its real pathetic to watch him just always give up and not even ever try. All the great players in SC1 and SC2 always go down swinging and sometimes pull off sweet comebacks. idra never will pull off sweet comebacks cause hes a quitter
IdrA has such a defeatist personality now it is just sad seeing him crumple as soon as he gets one bad engagement. IdrA still had a huge bank to remax on and just needed Vipers in that composition which would have helped him there.
It's a lot harder to enjoy these casts when it is so easy to tell how planned out it is...takes the excitement away when you say what is about to happen before it happens
Those pictures... Catz looks so awesome, Polt like from some Jackie Chan movie xD Only TLO looks sick, almost like he was over 40 or something... Definitelly older than White-Ra... They should have picked some better photo of him.
On March 05 2013 13:53 AGIANTSMURF wrote: I just realized in this image that PDT and EDT are listed as being 6 hours apart, why?
the EDT on there is Australian EDT, not American EDT.
ah thanks for clearing that up, living on the east coast my eye's defaulted to edt instead of pdt so i was confused as to why the game would go live at 6pm.
But man...that drop...feels like there was nothing minigun could have done even though he was prepared, wtf. And after that lost mining time/unit losses, Polt can easily snowball his way to a series win now. wp I guess ;_;
Just got an email from newegg saying HOTS has shipped. So excited. It's about time! Now to wait 8 hours for this event, and then a few days till I get it, and then a few days to play it!
Waited a few years and it will all end in a few days (the campaign part that is)
I'm still a little bit confused as to what's actually going to happen (starts at 2 am for korean/australian viewers and everything), but I guess I'll come here whenever and see what's going on
On March 11 2013 16:48 Aerisky wrote: I'm still a little bit confused as to what's actually going to happen (starts at 2 am for korean/australian viewers and everything), but I guess I'll come here whenever and see what's going on
it's basically going to be fun times with community figures before hots release.
On March 11 2013 16:22 ALPINA wrote: So where is the bracket and when the games gonna happen?
King of the beta tournament already has the finals players ro8-ro4 already happened(you can watch vods of the earlier matches on day9's stream or youtube) "Finals on March 11, 2013 during the afternoon community stream at www.twitch.tv/StarCraft."
I love the way this feels like a holiday - reminds me of cutting school for Halo 2's release! Except for the fact that I'm not skipping work b/c they'd fire me... so different... but feels similarly exciting!
On March 11 2013 21:51 [uci] Fizik wrote: anyone at the Irvine Spectrum event already that can tell me if its crowded? was thinking of making my way over there in a bit.
The Irvine broadcast isn't until later tonight I thought? That's the last one, after Versailles and TL/Day9.
On March 11 2013 21:51 [uci] Fizik wrote: anyone at the Irvine Spectrum event already that can tell me if its crowded? was thinking of making my way over there in a bit.
The Irvine broadcast isn't until later tonight I thought? That's the last one, after Versailles and TL/Day9.
no line ups started yesterday at 9:00 and day9/husky are suppose to be there now.
EPT![[image loading]](/staff/heyoka/FrontPage/HotSLaunchParty/launch1.jpg)
![[image loading]](/staff/heyoka/FrontPage/HotSLaunchParty/launch2.jpg)
![[image loading]](/staff/heyoka/FrontPage/HotSLaunchParty/launch3.jpg)
![[image loading]](/staff/heyoka/FrontPage/HotSLaunchParty/launch4.jpg)
![[image loading]](https://tl.net/staff/heyoka/FrontPage/HotSLaunchParty/ScheduleFullSize.jpg)
![[image loading]](/staff/heyoka/FrontPage/HotSLaunchParty/launch5.jpg)
![[image loading]](/staff/heyoka/FrontPage/HotSLaunchParty/launch6.jpg)
![[image loading]](/staff/heyoka/FrontPage/HotSLaunchParty/launch7.jpg)
/Cynicism
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/heyoka/FrontPage/HotSLaunchParty/ScheduleFullSize.jpg)
