Strap in! Blizzard activates Starcraft II beta

Strap in! Blizzard has finally activated its long-awaited beta program for the upcoming Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty real-time strategy (RTS) game.

“Thousands of gamers around the world have started to receive invitations from the company to participate in the first phase of the (closed) beta test,” confirmed Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime.

“In addition to providing feedback on the multiplayer balance of StarCraft II, testers are also getting a first look at Blizzard Entertainment’s revamped Battle.net service, which will be the online platform for StarCraft II, World of Warcraft and future [titles].”

According to Morhaime, the compilation of “concentrated” feedback from players marks an “important step” for Blizzard as it heads into the final stretch of development. 

“We look forward to having our players’ help in polishing the overall experience and preparing for launch,” added Morhaime.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is the sequel to Blizzard’s 1998 StarCraft, which is often regarded as one of the top RTS games of all time. Wings of Liberty is currently expected to ship during the first half of 2010.

So, which faction will you join? Protoss, Terran, or Zerg?

! Let us know!