Blizzard has revealed the long-awaited release date for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, the first instalment in a three-part sequel to the popular real-time strategy game. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty will launch worldwide on the 27th of July for the PC and Mac, first in retail followed by availability direct from Blizzard shortly thereafter.

StarCraft II will once again focus on the clash between the three races made popular in the 1998 hit StarCraft, the Protoss, Terrans and Zerg, as each side develops veteran, upgraded and new unit types.

Wings of Liberty will centre on the human Terran campaign with a 29-mission single player campaign. It will continue from StarCraft: Brood War, chronicling the life of Jim Raynor, a rebel leader who was once a marshal. Players will be able to tailor the experience by choosing their own mission path and selecting technology and research upgrades to suit their playing style. Several challenge-mode mini-games will also be included.

“We’ve been looking forward to revisiting the StarCraft universe for many years, and we’re excited that the time for that is almost here,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “Thanks to our beta testers, we’re making great progress on the final stages of development, and we’ll be ready to welcome players all over the world to StarCraft II and the new Battle.net® in just a few months.”

Check out our previous coverage for more information about StarCraft II, or head over to the official website if you like. You can also watch a teaser trailer for the game below: