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Blizzard Splash Image: Starcraft, Lich King & Diablo? | Posted at 3:40 PM

There’s a lot of speculation on what the Blizzard splash image is. Now it’s Day Five and there is a strong indication it’s just about Starcraft II. I think it’s a little more than that.

Day Five Splash Image

First, the eyes look just like the Protoss image that Kotaku compares it to and the Lich King’s face which I think is supposed to be ambiguous to point at both of them:

Protoss and Lich King eyes

And the rune in the bottom left is easily this same one in this image pointed about by this astute commenter for the Protoss from SCII:

Protoss Rune

The rune on the top right is definitely the “Hel� rune from Diablo II:

Diablo II Hel Rune

The rune on the left is obviously the rune on the Lich King’s sword:

Lich King Sword Rune

As for the other runes, well I think it’s apparent that we’re dealing with more than just a Starcraft II announcement.

Remember, June 29th is Diablo II’s 8th anniversary and the Diablo3.com site was just bought by Blizzard.

Here’s what I think:

  • They will announce information for Lich King
  • They will announce a release date for Starcraft II
  • They will announce Diablo III

Furthermore, if you connect the runes together with straight lines, you get a pentagram. If they just decided to put five runes on the image then that really doesn’t matter, but if it was on purpose perhaps there’s more to the story.

If you were Blizzard and you wanted to announce Diablo III, you would know that tons of people would be psyched. Why in the hell would you reveal that for sure outside of the official announcement? My take would be to do exactly what they’re doing. Make the splash image primarily focused on another previously-announced game and incorporating subtle elements of a surprise to come. Since Diablo III isn’t the main take on this image, it could very well be a sly maneuver to hint at it.

All I am saying is that it would awesome if there is going to be a 3rd Diablo. The splash image has elements of Starcraft, WoW, and Diablo. Am I really that crazy?

PS. Check out some of these old responses to the first day that the Starcraft II countdown began, another splash image fiasco:

“It will almost definitely be something in the diablo series. Might as well accept it now. Blizzard cannot release a Starcraft game because they lack the resources to make it properly.�

“I highly doubt it will be Starcraft related. Either Diablo, or milking their precious WoW some more.�

Little did they know.

We’ll see how this ends up tomorrow.

Update: Uh huh, see what I'm talking about? I am probably not the first to claim a tri-announcement:

Blizzard WWI

Thank you to this Kotaku reader for pointing it out.

This definitely means something related to all three franchises I mentioned. Diablo III is upon us [I hope]!

Filed Under: Gaming

Comments

And they announced Starcraft 2. Personally, I was hoping for Diablo 3, but I can wait another year I guess. By the way, nice blog David.

And they announced Starcraft 2. Personally, I was hoping for Diablo 3, but I can wait another year I guess. By the way, nice blog David.

It's so close to the official launch of Starcraft 2! I can't wait. i've been playing regular SC for the last few days to get my game back up to par.

Going to own some noobs soon

Did you ever find out what that original image is all about? I think it looks like a cloaked dark templar in space =)

I see what you mean about the dark templar cloaked. In the end they ended up announcing diablo 3 so that was probably it.

Maybe they combine all the 3 games together and come up with a kickass next gen MMO. Now, THAT! would be awesome!

This may well be the next gen mmo that Blizzard is developing. All 3 rolled into one :).

“It will almost definitely be something in the diablo series. Might as well accept it now. Blizzard cannot release a Starcraft game because they lack the resources to make it properly.�?

“I highly doubt it will be Starcraft related. Either Diablo, or milking their precious WoW some more.�?

Make the splash image primarily focused on another previously-announced game and incorporating subtle elements of a surprise to come. Since Diablo III isn’t the main take on this image, it could very well be a sly maneuver to hint at it.

Nice analogy. But my take on this is that probably artists of Blizzard are getting lazy already pulling used resources from previous projects just to come up with a new one. Nevertheless, the idea of a Diablo 3 release sends shiver to my spine, but I doubt it would come in the near future. Cheers

Nice blog, I would put my bet on a Diablo III release in 2012. Remember that they do want to release the game on both MAC & Windows at the same time.

That is the "bad guy" from Starcraft 2. We don't know much about the shadowy figure yet, but that icon and face are clearly, without spoiling anything, is the major villian in starcraft 2. We will have to wait for the heart of the swarm before we get anymore info though.

Well, it turned out that StarCraft 2 was released, and Diablo 3 is announced... A shame, because a next-gen mmo mashup would have been sick. Anyone with a guess on how that would look?

With SC2 having taken so long to be released it'll be a long line of teaser images and delays before anything of substance is released related to Diable III. One can hope though....

This may well be the next gen mmo that Blizzard is developing. All 3 rolled into one :).

Unfortunately it's just about SC2. Wouldn't it be sweet if they came out with a game that brought all 3 together? I don't understand why companies don't do this more often. Combine multiple awesome ideas into a super awesome idea.

Combining all 3 games into one would be pretty sick, although it seems much easier said than done. Starcraft 2 took ten years to make. Imagine if they have to combine that with two more. How knows how long that would take? But I'm pretty stoke about the game right now. There's some pretty interesting strategies you can use... Check this out to see what I mean.

That would be pretty sick if they could combine those 3 game into one. I can't imagine how long it would take though. I mean Starcraft 2 took 10 years to make so I can't imagine waiting another 10 years for another game.

this game like a wow ?

Combine multiple awesome ideas into a super awesome idea

I agree, combining the whole three games would be totally sick! The speed of technology is always improving. Hopefully, we won't have to wait as long for another game.

I agree, combining the whole three games would be totally sick! The speed of technology is always improving. Hopefully, we won't have to wait as long for another game.

I think It would be cool if the three game where combin but I thin k it would be a little to much like somone might like the stuff from diablo but not from star treak so I think three separate games would be better.

I never notice that these blizzard splash images could represent something in Protoss race until I read this article. From these splash images we could know that Blizzard is really putting their hearts to create these games. No wonder they last this long. SC started in 1998 and till today, it's been over 10 years. How incredible is that? And that's why I'm so into this game, too :)

I liked the ways that Blizzard is designing their games and their strategies for these incredible top-notched online entertainment. For myself, I'm a Protoss player and I liked their design or each unit and its power. I tried Diablo, but never really get into deep of it.

Probably a lot of people who play all the games, and that's why Blizzard is so good at intriguing people to love their games.

I heard that there will be movies coming out soon about Starcraft, and maybe they'll combine some of the characters from other games, too. Who knows?

Blizzard design realy very nice, but no - its just COOL!!! And idea with combining few games - its awasome.
thanx

these are the 3 game projects they are working on. graphics look extremely cool. The big news is Daiblo 3. everyone is waiting for the beta test. The Diablo 3 staff will not tell us when the release date will be but they have confirmed that it will be released 6 months after the beta testing has begun.

We are all excited

ver beautiful picture.

Nice analogy. But my take on this is that probably artists of Blizzard are getting lazy already pulling used resources from previous projects just to come up with a new one.

Well the image had the desired effect. It got people talking about it. First rule of marketing, get some interest

Looks better than the London 2012 logo

howly cow, thanks for the great content. i too am a huge blizzard fan. cant wait till diablo 3 comes out

these are the 3 game projects they are working on. graphics look extremely cool. The big news is Daiblo 3. everyone is waiting for the beta test. The Diablo 3 staff will not tell us when the release date will be but they have confirmed that it will be released 6 months after the beta testing has begun.

We are all excited

Well the image had the desired effect. It got people talking about it. First rule of marketing, get some interest

That's the "bad guy" from Starcraft II. We don't know much about the shadowy figure yet, but that icon and face are clearly, without spoiling anything, the major villian in starcraft II. We will have to wait for the heart of the swarm before we get anymore info though.

After you've played your practice games and have been assigned a league you are not forever stuck in that league. Each and every and each and every game you play thereafter will impact your StarCraft two ranking. When you shed games you are able to go to lesser leagues and should you win much more than you lose you'll function your way up the leagues.

i like the pics, i thinks that's interesting game :)

I remember the day when I started to play the first Blizzard Game! Awesome memories!

The key to a good Zerg economy is drones. Zerg need more drones than Protoss or Terran because they use them for building. Also the Zerg should have more expansions than the Terran or the Protoss. More expansions mean more drones.

My opinion is that artists of ActiBlizzard are getting lazy already...

I liked the ways that Blizzard is designing their games and their strategies for these incredible top-notched online entertainment. For myself, I'm a Protoss player and I liked their design or each unit and its power. I tried Diablo, but never really get into deep of it.

The final result should show the winner as the player who lost the least minerals, by reason of their units lost in battle.

Those photos are amazing!!!

Scott

Protoss has always been my favorite race and these images are just stunning.

awesome point of view again! keep it up guys!

Wow! I love blizzard pics!!!

nice bolg,i like playing diablo 3.
diablo3 gold

awesome post again guys! keep it up!

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Kamran
Divide by Zero is Kamran Ayub's personal blog. Kamran owns and operates Intrepid Studios, a web design and development firm based in Minneapolis. Despite the above picture, Kamran is usually an intelligent person. Please forgive him.

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