You may have to find a new package to go in that “reserved-for-Starcraft 2” spot under the Christmas tree this year. Earlier this month several online retailers listed a tentative release date for Starcraft 2 of December 3, 2008, however speculation is now rife that Starcraft 2 will not ship in 2008 at all following the panel presentation given by Blizzard Executive Vice President of Game Design, Rob Pardo, at the 2008 Blizzard Worldwide Invitational.

Pardo spoke on the goals of the Starcraft 2 game development and showed examples of each of the races tactics and abilities. Pardo was quoted as being “about a third of the way through” the development process and that he expected to have something very impressive to show by the end of the year but did not commit to any release date, although, he did indicate that they expect to launch both PC and Macintosh versions of the game simultaneously when they do ship.

Retailers often use unconfirmed release dates based on industry gossip and rumors until official announcements are given. In this case the 2008 release of Starcraft 2 may just be wishful thinking.

Source: Shacknews