With the introduction of StarCraft 2 and StarCraft: Remastered to Xbox Game Pass, a whole new generation of gamers can now enjoy the pinnacle of real-time strategy gaming. For years I sat back and watched my favorite game genre slowly wither away, turning into a shell of its former glory, with SC2 and its expansions remaining as the defining the game of the genre – perfecting the mechanics since the release of the original StarCraftin 1998.
I’m an OG gamer who started out as a Reaver leaderboard fanatic in my pre-teen years, so when I fired up the Xbox app on PC to check out the new games on Game Pass, I was so happy to see the StarCraft games were included. After all, while it’s undoubtedly my favorite game of all time, it’s been years since I sat down to examine meta-builds or perfectly time that cheese 3 Rax. That said, there’s still something holding it back when it comes to introducing the game to a new generation of players.
StarCraft 2 Campaign Collection requires you to download the Battle.net launcher
It’s not actually in the Xbox app
Although it’s more of an annoyance than anything, other than perhaps the new CodIt’s been a while since I’ve really wanted to start Battle.net. So I was surprised when I tried to launch the game on the Xbox App that it prompted me to download and install Battle.net. Now, you might be wondering why I would bother downloading the Campaign Collection If I already own the game and all of its expansions, but I write about games, then I wanted to see what the experience was like.
Microsoft bought Blizzard in early 2023 in a controversial acquisition which had several national agencies overseeing the merger, so you would assume that as one of the biggest software companies in the world it would be possible to port a game to another platform since both companies are now under the same umbrella – but that No, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Again, it’s not really hit or miss about its appearance on Xbox Game Pass – new things are always good for those who pay to subscribe – but it seems a bit disingenuous to say it’s on Xbox when, in reality, it’s more like you get it. a ticket to play on Battle.net. Having five launchers on my desktop is frustrating and I feel like a lot of gamers can relate.
StarCraft 2 still lacks controller and console support
Not that I would joke about it anyway
Perhaps, however, the biggest problem with StarCraft 2 on Xbox is the fact that it’s not yet available on Xbox – the console, of course. Not that I really expected Blizzard to add controller support, nor would I ever use it (I feel cursed just thinking about it), but it would have been a nice addition that would have allowed people to play on their consoles instead of a PC.
Although more people seem to be taking an interest in PC or laptop gaming, consoles still represent a wide swath of gamers, all of whom will probably never play it or know it’s on the service. The company could have also introduced it with keyboard and mouse support with a custom StarCraft set they would probably be tempted to buy, but they also missed that opportunity.
StarCraft 2 introduced to a whole new generation
Can RTS games return?
At the beginning of the year, I excitedly proclaimed that RTS was finally back with new titles like Storm Gate and other independent titles such as lordly gentlemen. Boy, was that proclamation wrong just a few months later – as 2024, for me, was a monumental disappointment in terms of RTS and strategy games in general. That’s not to say these developers aren’t trying, but they just don’t seem to have the resources to create a product as complete as SC2.
I’ve thought about this a bit, and as much as I’d like the genre to see a resurgence, I think RTS games might be dead at the moment. There doesn’t seem to be anything that can scratch the surface StarCraftand there is no news of Starcraft 3 or War 4. Games like Company of Heroes 3 they were huge disappointments and failures in the eyes of the community, so I’m left here wondering if anything could save the genre.
Regardless of whether it’s annoying or not, people need to download Battle.net to play it; I think StarCraft 2: Campaign Collection It’s still worth more than that.
Different people will point out a multitude of reasons why RTS games are dead, from shortened attention spans to the emergence of other genres like MOBA that are similar but are still capable of attracting large player bases. And although I’m also a fan of DOTA 2It just doesn’t scratch that multitasking itch I got from controlling my strengths at 100+ actions per minute.
StarCraft: Remastered is also on Game Pass
Returning to the original
In addition to adding StarCraft 2: Campaign CollectionXbox also added StarCraft: Remasteredthe updated 2017 re-release of the original that was compatible with modern hardware and aspect ratios. Surprisingly, this game still holds up today, even though its original iteration was released when I was a kid. Anyone who has never had the opportunity to try it should certainly at least play the campaign to enjoy the game for the first time. Even though I took my time playing SC2 More seriously, I could have spent more time playing the original.
Regardless of whether it’s annoying or not, people need to download Battle.net to play it; I think StarCraft 2: Campaign Collection It’s still worth it, especially for those who are on the fence about it. The best-case scenario is that its introduction to Game Pass will expose the game to a new audience that will eventually demand a new RTS experience – but only time will tell.