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Tech

'StarCraft' Mod Makes Zerg Rushes Cuter Than Ever

Mod based on CarbotAnimation's StarCrafts set to hit StarCraft 2 on October 11.

Blizzard Entertainment's StarCraft 2 is one of the pillars of the modern esports scene, and it's usually known for grim scenarios along the lines of giant killer bugs swarming over once lovely worlds. It's a game of despair and death by the thousands. But with the upcoming StarCrafts mod, I'm half convinced I'd be safe showing footage from it in a day care.

Two years in the making, the mod takes StarCraft 2's graphics and completely replaces them with cutesy imagery from CarbotAnimations' popular animated Starcraft fan series on YouTube. It's not some half-assed gimmick. Jonathan Burton, the brains behind Carbot, funded it with a Indiegogo campaign that amassed almost $99,000 last year, allowing Burton to support a team of two animators, three developers, and a project lead.

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And according to the new trailer above, we'll all get to play it next Tuesday, October 11. As fun as the trailer is, you can get a better idea of how it actually works in motion below by watching YouTuber LowkoTV's 15-minute hands-on with the Terran faction from yesterday. (He also previewed the Zerg earlier.) Even with some remaining bugs and the occasional rough animation, it looks positively, well, stellar.

Best of all, you don't even need to buy the game outright if you want to play Burton's brighter, cuter vision of StarCraft. Just download the StarCraft 2 starter edition from Blizzard's site, then download the mod from the Arcade once it goes live, and you should be good to go.

In the meantime, be sure to check out some of Burton's many previous StarCrafts episodes. Most only last two minutes or so, and many have well over a million views already.