Starcraft 2 news » The Patch 1.5.0 Arcade Beta Has Begun!

Patch 1.5.0 beta introduces an entirely new feature to your Battle.net experience: Arcade. The Arcade offers an exciting new way for you to find and play your favorite custom games--and discover new favorites too. You’ll have the option to search for games based on categories including genre, star ratings, newness and more. Each game will feature a new Game Info page, that will provide you with information including a description and screenshots, instructions, patch notes, and even tutorials, in addition to the star ratings and reviews provided by your fellow players. The new Open Games list displays games that have players waiting, but haven’t filled up yet, to help you get games going quickly.

When you log into the beta, you’ll find the Arcade has games available to play, because the industrious and creative StarCraft II custom gaming community has already been hard at work creating, refining and posting their games on the Arcade. Now’s your chance to explore the Arcade beta to play, rate and review their contributions.

In addition to the new Arcade feature, Patch 1.5.0 also introduces a new streaming launcher that should make download, installation and patching times shorter than ever before, as well as an incredible array of editor changes and improvements.

To access the new beta test, just visit your Battle.net account management page and install the Arcade (1.5) Beta product that you’ll find in the game accounts section.Your feedback is an important part of the beta process, so after you’ve played some games and rated them and written a review or two, please visit the official forums to share feedback on your experience or report any bugs you’ve discovered on the the PTR forum.

Please note: While the beta installer is available to all players, the patch 1.5.0 Arcade Beta will only be available in the following languages: English, German, French, and Korean. The final patch release will be available in all languages as usual.