We're pleased to announce that we’ve opened up the Public Test Realm for testing on the upcoming 2.1.4 StarCraft II patch. Anyone with a StarCraft II license and the Battle.net Desktop App can participate, and we're kindly requesting your help in testing some of upcoming changes.

WCS GameHeart

We previously mentioned the development of an official WCS GameHeart extension mod and Ryan Schutter’s work at Blizzard. The 2.1.4 PTR will be your first chance to take a look at the new WCS GameHeart in action.

We’ve provided a small preview on some of the features you’ll enjoy here: WCS GameHeart.

Enhanced Team Colors

With enhanced team colors, you’ll be able to give your in-game colors a boost. By increasing the color intensity of units, building and some effects, you can customize your experience based on your specific preference.

• Updated Unit/Spell Effects: In addition to providing enhanced colors for units and buildings, we’ve also added the option to enable team colors for some unit/spell effects. This includes Time Warp, EMP, Scanner Sweep, and the coloring on the Mothership Core. You can enable this feature by navigating to the Gameplay tab in the options menu. You can then select ‘Enable Additional Team Color Textures’ to apply team colors to these abilities.

• Color Intensity Slider: Controlling the coloring on enhanced team colors can be done by adjusting the value on the new ‘Team Color Intensity ‘slider. You can find the slider on the Gameplay tab in the Options menu. Looking for a minor boost? Try setting it to 2 or 3. Want a major boost? Try out 10, or even 11! Yes, it goes to 11.

Importance of testing the 2.1.4 PTR

While the high profile features often receive the most attention and testing on a PTR, less visible systems often benefit the most from PTR testing. While these types of back-end adjustments may not be noticeable to a player, they interact with nearly every aspect of the game. Ensuring that these types of changes are working as intended and do not negatively impact the experience for StarCraft II players is a top priority.

That’s where we can use your help! By testing the new features on the PTR in all the various game modes (Matchmaking, Custom Games, Arcade, vs AI), you’ll help ensure that Patch 2.1.4 continues to offer a smooth experience for StarCraft II players when it goes live. To help highlight the importance of testing on the 2.1.4 PTR, and offer a bonus to those who participate, we’ve got a few goodies we’d like to give away.

Prizes for participation

To all players who reach level 5 on the PTR:

• A one month subscription for Twitch Turbo

To 50 random players who reach level 5 on the PTR:

• A Twitch subscription for WCS EU/AM

To one random player who reaches level 5 on PTR:

• A pair (2) of 2014 BlizzCon tickets

You’ll have from 12:00 AM PST August 26, 2014 to 11:59 PM PST September 22, 2014 to become eligible for these prizes. You can check out the official rules.

How to Get In

Accessing the Public Test Realm is easier than ever with the Battle.net Desktop App. Once you've installed and run the App, select StarCraft II from your list of games to get started. Next, click the region selection box above the Play button, choose "PTR: Heart of the Swarm" from the dropdown list, and hit Install. If you don’t see a PTR option available, but own a copy of StarCraft II, you can enable PTR access by navigating to the Battle.net Account Management page and clicking on the Public Test Region button under your game license. Once your installation is complete, just hit Play to launch the PTR and start digging in to all of the goodies mentioned above.

If you'd like to switch back to the current version of StarCraft II, simply exit the client and head back to the Battle.net App to swap the region selector back to your preferred Battle.net region. You can pick up the Battle.net Desktop App by downloading it for free using the button below.

(Please note that the Public Test Realm can only be accessed through the Battle.net Desktop App as outlined above. Attempting to launch “StarCraft II Public Test.exe”, found in your StarCraft II installation folder, will no longer grant entry into the PTR.)

Download the Battle.net App

Thank you very much for helping us test the upcoming features in the Public Test Realm. Your feedback will be vital during this extended testing period as we prepare to roll out StarCraft II Patch 2.1.4 at a later date.