Please Note: We encountered an issue while making this promotion available for the European and Korean Battle.net regions which will result in a delay for players on those servers. Despite the delay, players in the European and Korean regions of Battle.net can still "study abroad" to earn the new achievement and portrait rewards on the Americas and South East Asia servers. We appreciate your patience as we work to resolve the issue and we'll provide more information as soon as it's available. Thank you.

All good things must come to an end and for many of you, it’s back to school month—time to shed that luxurious summer break sleep schedule and get serious about hitting the books. Don't let your new round of responsibilities get you down, though, because we've got news that will have you stutter-stepping through this week's lessons.

Buy StarCraft II without Spending Your Lunch Money

In honor of back to school month, we're offering a 50% discount on copies of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, and 25% off the Heart of the Swarm expansion. That's not all. From September 23 – October 2, new and existing players alike will be able to enjoy a host of new rewards and bonuses. Take out a pen and start taking notes, because we've got something for StarCraft II students of all disciplines.

Show Off Your School Spirit

So you're boasting the same school wardrobe as last year. Don't fret, you can still dress up your StarCraft II profile with a stylish new Feat of Strength achievement and three back to school-themed character portraits this semester. The Cheerleader Kerrigan, Geek Raynor, and Professor Zeratul portraits pictured below can be unlocked by earning the “You Got Schooled” Feat of Strength achievement.

In order to do this, you'll first need to conquer a brief test of your StarCraft II proficiencies.

From now through October 2, win five StarCraft II games in any combination of Arcade, Custom, Ranked, Training, Unranked, or Versus A.I. online game modes to earn the You Got Schooled achievement. As soon as you've received the achievement, all three portraits will be permanently unlocked in your character profile.

It’s important to note that Campaign, Offline Custom Games, Replays, and observing your friends' games don't count toward reward progress. So make sure to play in one of the previously listed online game modes.

Hit the Books and Still Level Up

We’ve doubled the amount of XP you'll gain when you play StarCraft II from now through October 2. Perhaps you'd like to reach max level in Heart of the Swarm, or level up the race you play the least often. Now is no time to procrastinate! Finish up that science paper, then log in to Battle.net and play a few matchmaking or custom games to start enjoying this wealth of experience points. We’re tossing you some bonus experience to make up for the time you should be spending on important stuff, like studying, eating, sleeping, and visiting the official StarCraft II community site.

Three Majors for New Players

We’ve unlocked all three races for StarCraft II: Starter Edition players through the end of the month, which means it's the perfect time to introduce your new classmates to the schools of the Protoss, Terran, and Zerg. Starter Edition is always free to download and play, so once that group project meeting wraps up, you and your fellow scholars can team up for some Ladder and Arcade games.

Better still, if you already own a copy of StarCraft II, be sure to share the full experience with your Starter Edition friends using our recently implemented Spawning feature.

Boost Your Brain Power

This recent study indicates that playing StarCraft II isn't just fun—it can also be educational. The research suggests that playing StarCraft II can help sharpen your cognitive flexibility, which is all the more reason to pencil a few ladder games in to your extracurricular schedule. If you're scurrying off to class, the below video summary of the study's results will give you all of the details while you're on the go.

Master the Study of StarCraft II

The StarCraft II community can be a brilliant resource to turn to if you're looking for some inspired course material to help you earn those new portrait rewards. Below, we've gathered a collection of lessons from the StarCraft II community that you might like to include in your research.

Get a foundational StarCraft II education from Shaun "Apollo" Clark as he helps guide you from Bronze to Master League with this 1v1 tutorial series.

Once you've taken notes on the essentials, dig in to some of Apollo's more personalized lessons by watching a few episodes of Improve with Apollo.

If a daily dose of the latest strategies and tactics is what you're after, Sean "Day[9]" Plott and his pro replay analysis show, the Day[9] Daily, might be more your speed. You can also tune in to www.day9.tv Monday through Thursday evenings at 7:00 p.m. PDT to catch Day[9]'s live broadcasts.

From there, head over to the TeamLiquid.net Strategy Forum to dive in to a veritable library of multiplayer guides, advice, and discussions. Then, round out your skillset with professional StarCraft II team Evil Geniuses and their Pro Tip Collection.

If you'd rather hone your creative side, the Galaxy Editor Tutorial Archive at SC2Mapster.com will sharpen your skills with StarCraft II Arcade and Custom Game development.

Now that you've (surely) taken notes on all the goodies that await you during StarCraft II's Back to School Week, we hope that once you've finished your studies each evening, you'll login to Battle.net for some fun with your friends. Please enjoy your new rewards, and we sincerely wish you the best of luck this new school year.