Published , by Kevin Tucker
Published , by Kevin Tucker
Blizzard has been cooking up something special for StarCraft 2 fans, particularly those interested in the game's competitive esports scene. The long-awaited StarCraft 2 War Chest: Katowice 2019 is available now, and not only does it offer up a selection of new items, players can now earn War Chest XP through Twitch integration.
According to a page for the latest Katowice 2019 War Chest over on the official StarCraft 2 website, the latest pack will allow players to "[uncover] the secrets of the Simulant zerg, deploy elite terran Special Forces, harness the might of the Forged protoss, or obtain them all." The chest itself is slated to contain over 70 new items like emoticons, exclusive portraits, sprays, and skins. It'll also allow the player to receive bonus co-op XP while the War Chest even period is active.
The availability of the Katowice 2019 War Chest coincides with new Twitch integration. Players who purchase the War Chest and have already created a StarCraft 2 character can link their Battle.net account with Twitch and earn easy XP by watching eligible StarCraft 2 streams. The StarCraft 2 website notes that every stream on the game's official Twitch channel will provide War Chest XP, and Twitch streamers themselves can provide War Chest XP to viewers if they link their accounts and enable the StarCraft 2 War Chest extension.
Blizzard has indicated that 25$ of all money put toward War Chest purchases will help fund StarCraft 2 esports endeavors. According to the StarCraft 2 website, the "first $150K will be added to the $250K Katowice 2019 prize pool, and any extra funds will contribute to future StarCraft II esport events." As of the time of writing, the current Katowice 2019 Prize Pool is already sitting at $250,000.
It's always nice to see the classic Blizzard RTS StarCraft get some love, and Shacknews is particularly fond of seeing classic PC favorites gaining traction in the esports scene. Keep on top of the latest developments with StarCraft 2 by keeping it tuned right here to Shacknews, and learn about interesting upcoming releases by heading over to our 2019 video game release date schedule.