Starcraft II: Nova Covert Ops pre-purchases are now open

It’s time to pull out your wallets again, Starcraft II fans! Starting today, Nova Covert Ops has officially opened up for pre-purchase. As if Blizzard wasn’t already hurting their customers’ wallets enough with Overwatch, World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, and the recently released Legacy of the Void.

Announced at Blizzcon earlier this year, Nova Covert Ops is a series of DLC missions for Starcraft II. These mission packs act as standalone campaign missions that can be downloaded without owning any of the Starcraft II expansions. This means that anyone solely interested in Nova Covert Ops can play it with just the Starter Edition client of Starcraft II.

As pre-purchase bonuses, customers will receive a new Nova Terra portrait, as well as a new female “Covert Ops Ghost” skin. In the past these skins, have been somewhat questionable since they only changed the in-game unit and not the unit portraits. But if the Legacy of the Void Digital Deluxe is anything to judge the new skins by, we can expect the portrait to be changed and fully voiced.

The question is: will this be enough to get people to pre-purchase?

Each mission pack can also be bought separately after they are released for $7.49 USD each. However, you can pre-purchase all three of them them for only $14.99 USD. The mission packs themselves will have three missions each, so it might be worth considering the pre-purchase for the $7.48 you will save – if not for the female ghost skin and Nova portrait.

Will I be pre-purchasing this content? Probably not. However, my personal desires for more Starcraft content does make me feel like buying it despite my better judgement. After all, the Terran Ghosts do admit that the female ghosts get all the better equipment…

What do you guys think about this? Is Blizzard risking alienating their already diminishing Starcraft fanbase? Do you believe that this will actually bring back more Starcraft fans? Do you wish that they had announced Starcraft: Ghost instead? Leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below!