Starcraft Universe, a fan-made MMO created as a Starcraft 2 mod, is now seeking crowd funding through Kickstarter. Upheaval Arts, the official company of lead developer Ryan "Kreation" Winzen is seeking $80,000 in crowd funding to complete the development of this promising-looking game which has already seen the release of a playable prologue back in February.
The game's official description reads:
StarCraft Universe tells a story set in an alternate reality, where the ending of StarCraft II:Wings of Liberty has a grim conclusion for Kerrigan. Without the Queen of Blades to stop the hybrid’s assault, the protoss are overwhelmed and defeated. In this reality, what would the survivors of these shattered worlds do? StarCraft Universe tells this story.
"Upheaval has been developing StarCraft Universe for over two years with no funding whatsoever, donating their time and effort to its development with no monetary reward," the studio says on its Kickstarter. "All developers on the project have had to return to work their normal day jobs, dramatically hindering the progression of the project due to its time intensive requirements."
Starcraft Universe is experienced in third-person MMO-style gameplay ala World of Warcraft. It features a persistent system to customizable characters and weapons, vehicles and mounts (including in-combat), item crafting, and an ability system. If Upheaval reaches its Kickstarter goal, it will release a multiplayer beta of the mod that comes with an opening and closing story-based act. If it surpasses $100K it will add a playable Zerg class; at $135K a MOBA-style PvP element will be implemented; and at $175K a middle act will be created to flesh out the storyline. There are other goals, but we'll stop at that for now.
Starcraft Universe is technically a mod for Starcraft 2, meaning it does require the official game to play. The good news is it only requires the free Starcraft 2: Starter Edition, which can be downloaded here. As of the time of this writing, Starcraft Universe sits at $6,453 of its $80,000 goal. If you'd like to contribute you can do so here.
