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You Can Now Get StarCraft and Brood War for Free

Patch 1.18 is the first update in eight years for Blizzard's classic RTS.

David Craddock

April 18, 2017 3:51 PM

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After lying dormant for eight years, StarCraft and its Brood War expansion were patched to version 1.18 earlier today. Among other features, the patch makes both games free to download for all players.

The patch went live at 2pm PT / 5pm ET. " When patching, please use the ‘Run as Admin’ option; it is required during your first client run to migrate saves and avoid issues from Windows system admin changes," per Blizzard's patch notes. Besides offering up StarCraft and its critically acclaimed expansion pack for free, patch 1.18 smooths out compatibility issues in Windows 7, 8, and 10; facilitates snappier response times when playing online; tightens anti-cheating measures; and touches up the UI during online games.

Battle.net hosts installers for Windows and Mac OS. Full patch notes for StarCraft 1.18 can be found below.

Since reading Blizzard's announcement and patch notes, I've been trying to decide whether or not this makes sense. My initial thought was that releasing the game for free might put a dent in sales of StarCraft Remastered, which is due out this summer. Even if that happens, though, the impact will be negligible.

Everyone with even a passing interest in the eSports scene will migrate to StarCraft Remastered as much for the integration of Blizzard's contemporary Battle.net (aka Blizzard) online service as for myriad balance tweaks. There's only so much Blizzard can do to improve online performance in the original game, and the most significant online and game balance updates will likely be exclusive to StarCraft Remastered going forward. Last but not least, the remaster will be displayed in 4K resolution, and this is the era of the HD paint job.

So... why not? If you've never played StarCraft, or if you haven't played the game since it required you to insert a CD in your computer, there's never been a better time to pilot an SCV.

Patch Notes

General

• Added windowed fullscreen or windowed mode; Alt+Enter switches between
• Added UTF-8 support
• Added cursor clamping in-game while windowed; unclamped in menus
• Added Popular Maps to streamline finding games or game types
• Added options to display actions per minute
• Added Observer mode
• Added opponent information when joining a game lobby
• Added autosaving for replays
• Added an option to display game time
• Added UPnP support
• Updated to a new OpenGL backend
• Improved gameplay responsiveness during multiplayer by increasing turn rate to match LAN speeds over Battle.net
• Improved UI layout in Battle.net sections
• Improved behavior of available lobbies within the ‘Join Game’ section
• Improved compatibility with Windows 7, 8.1, and 10
• Improved anticheat capabilities
• Improved installation and patching performance
• Mac Beta now available for 10.11 and up

Bug Fixes

• Fixed palette issues to correct rainbow water, 80s Kerrigan face in the loading screen, and other graphic glitches
• Fixed problems with LAN game discovery
• Fixed IME support and other text artifacts in Battle.net menus
• LAN and Legacy Battle.net fixes

Known Issues

• The profile section is currently unavailable
• Some chat commands are still being updated to play nice in the updated chat system
• Friends location is being improperly displayed
• Password games will often return bad password trying to join

David Craddock

Long Reads Editor

David L. Craddock writes fiction, nonfiction, and grocery lists. He is the author of the Stay Awhile and Listen series, and the Gairden Chronicles series of fantasy novels for young adults. Outside of writing, he enjoys playing Mario, Zelda, and Dark Souls games, and will be happy to discuss at length the myriad reasons why Dark Souls 2 is the best in the series. Follow him online at davidlcraddock.com and @davidlcraddock.