With the introduction ofStarCraft 2andStarCraft: Remasteredto Xbox Game Pass, a whole new generation of gamers can now enjoy the pinnacle of real-time strategy games. For years, I’ve sat back and watched my favorite gaming genre slowly wither away into a husk of its former glory, withSC2and its expansions standing asthedefining game in the genre — perfecting the mechanics since the release of the originalStarCraft, all the way back in 1998.
I’m an OG player who started as a Reaver-dropping fanatic on the ranked ladder in my pre-teens, so when I booted up the Xbox App on PC to check out the new games on Game Pass, I was pretty happy to see theStarCraftgames were included. After all, even though it is hands-down my favorite game of all time, it’s been years since I’ve actually sat down to look over the meta builds or perfectly time that 3 Rax cheese. That said, there is still one thing holding it back when it comes to introducing the game to a new generation of gamers.
Not Truly On The Xbox App
Although it’s more of an annoyance than anything, beyond maybe the newCoD, I haven’t had much of a desire to start up Battle.net for some time. So, it came to my surprise when trying to launch the game on the Xbox App that itprompted me to download and install Battle.net. Now, you might be wondering why I would even bother downloading theCampaign Collectionif I already own the game and all of its expansions, but I do write about games, so I wanted to see what the experience was like.
Microsoft purchased Blizzard early in 2023in acontentious acquisitionthat had multiple national agencies oversee the merger, so you’d assume as one of the biggest software companies in the world, it would be possible to port one game over to another platform as both companies are now under the same umbrella — but this doesn’t seem to be the case.
StarCraft 2: Campaign Collectionis on PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
Again, it’s not really make or break for its appearance on Xbox Game Pass — new stuff is always good for those that pay to sub — but it does feel somewhat disingenuous to say it’s on Xbox when, in reality, it’s more like it gets you a ticket to play the thing on Battle.net. Having five launchers on my desktop is frustrating, and I feel many gamers can relate.
StarCraft 2 Still Lacks Controller & Console Support
Not That I’d Play With It Anyway
Perhaps, however, the bigger issue withStarCraft 2on Xbox is the fact that it still really isn’t available on Xbox at all — the console, that is. Not that I really expected Blizzard to add controller support, nor would I ever use that (I feel cursed even thinking about it), but it would have been a nice addition that would enable people to play on their consoles rather than a PC.
The ill-fatedStarCraft 64was on controller, and yes, I played it — and yes, it was terrible.
Although more people seem to be getting into PC or laptop gaming, consoles still make up a vast swath of players, all of whom willprobably never play the game or even know it’s on the service. The company could have also introduced it with keyboard & mouse support with a customStarCraftset that I’d probably be tempted to buy myself, but they missed that opportunity, too.
StarCraft 2 Introduced To A Whole New Generation
Can RTS Games Make A Comeback?
Earlier in the year, I excitedly proclaimed thatRTS was finally making a comebackwith new titles likeStormgateand otherindie titles likeManor Lords. Boy, was that proclamation wrong just a few months later — as 2024, for me, was a monumental letdown 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 make such a complete product likeSC2.
Even other games in the strategy genre that weren’t RTS, likeFrostpunk 2, let me down this year.
I’ve given it some thought, and as much as I wanted the genre to make a resurgence, I just kind of think RTS games might be dead at the moment. There doesn’t seem to be anything that could even scratch the surface ofStarCraft, and there is no news of aStarCraft 3orWarcraft 4. Games likeCompany of Heroes 3were huge letdownsand failures in the eyes of the community, so I’m left here wondering if anything could save the genre.
Regardless of whether or not it’s annoying, people need to download Battle.net to play it; I do thinkStarCraft 2: Campaign Collectionis still more than worth it.
Different people will point to a multitude of reasons RTS games are dead, from shortened attention spans to the rise of other genres like MOBA, which are similar but are still able to draw large player bases. And while I am also a fan ofDOTA 2, it just doesn’t scratch that multi-tasking itch that I had when controlling my forces at over 100 actions per minute.
StarCraft: Remastered Is On Game Pass, Too
Returning To The Original
In addition to addingStarCraft 2: Campaign Collection, Xbox also addedStarCraft: Remastered, the refreshed 2017 relaunch of the original that was compatible with modern-day hardware and aspect ratios. Amazingly, this game still holds up to this day, even if its original iteration was released when I was an actual child. Those who have never had the chance to try it should certainly at least play through the campaign to enjoy the game for the first time. Even though I took my time playingSC2more seriously, I might have spent more time playing the original.
10 Best Strategy Games, Ranked
Strategy games require players to plan ahead using problem-solving and critical-thinking skills where players are immersed in a world of decision.
Regardless of whether or not it’s annoying, people need to download Battle.net to play it; I do thinkStarCraft 2: Campaign Collectionis still more than worth it, especially for those who have been on the fence about it. The best case scenario is its introduction on Game Pass will expose the game to a new audience who will eventually demand a new RTS experience — but only time will tell.
