StarCraft 2 Arcade launches in latest patch

StarCraft 2's 1.5 patch has officially gone live, and it is introducing the biggest new change that the game has seen since it launch over two years ago:the Arcade.

The new Arcade section is basically an in-client mod database that allows seamless access to hundreds of official and unofficial StarCraft 2 mods and maps. Users can play and write reviews for mods with a few button clicks inside the SC2 main game rather than having to personally install mods into the program files.

The big stars of the Arcade so far are long-time favorites Starjeweled and Left 2 Die. The former is a bizarre (yet exceedingly awesome) mashup of StarCraft 2 and Bejeweled, where making jewel matches earns you points to spend on SC2 units that march forward toward the enemy like a simplified MOBA. Left 2 Die is a more traditional mod where players face off against hordes of undead that attack during the night. You need to build a sufficient defense to keep the hordes at bay while also building an army to destroy their dens during the day time.

The patch also introduced a big overhaul of the general user interface. Functionally it doesn't change much (aside from some new information on profile pages), but it makes the whole experience a little bit more sleek.

Despite being over two years old, StarCraft 2 has maintained a healthy fan base of hundreds of thousands thanks largely to the attention it has received from the eSports scene where it has become one of the top events alongside League of Legends and Street Fighter IV.

CATEGORIES
Andrew Groen

Andrew is a freelance video game journalist, writing for sites like Wired and GamesRadar. Andrew has also written a book called EMPIRES OF EVE: A History of the Great Wars of EVE Online.

Latest in Strategy
Kingmakers
Kingmakers is a strategy game about taking on medieval armies with a gun, but its devs thought the giant mech was too much
Dwarf Fortress
Dwarf Fortress devs "apologize for destroying your food-based economies" after nerfing meal prices: "Didn't realize so many of you were living that way"
Screenshots of Civilization 7 for review
"Everybody's in competition with Civ": Lead Civilization 5 composer has been in the "volatile" gaming industry for over 20 years and thinks new IP is only getting harder to make
How to heal units in Civilization 7
How to heal units in Civ 7
Civilization 7 diplomacy
How Civ 7 diplomacy works using Influence
How to trade in Civilization 7
How to trade in Civ 7 and set up trade routes
Latest in News
Rise of the Ronin's photo mode offers some wonderful shots
On the heels of Rise of the Ronin's PC launch, its director says there's a "significant" amount of Japanese Switch gamers: "I am closely watching how this will change with the release of Switch 2"
Stardew Valley Castle Village mod
Stardew Valley Expanded creator is building an "even more ambitious" mod with a whole new city and "dungeons inspired by The Legend of Zelda"
Dino Crisis 2 art showing a young woman and man back-to-back amid tall green grass, both with their weapons drawn
Dino Crisis gets a fresh trademark filing by Capcom, but it might not mean the 26-year-old survival horror franchise will get a new installment like fans expect
Cujo
Netflix is making a brand new adaptation of Cujo, the infamous Stephen King book about a killer dog
Dragon Age 2
Veteran Dragon Age dev says one big delay is better than several small ones: "You are laying band-aid on top of band-aid on top of band-aid"
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Dark Souls 2 fans remind Death Stranding 2 director Hideo Kojima that he won’t be taking the DS2 acronym that easily