Last October, Battle.net project director Greg Canessa took the stage to talk about the future of the encompassing online service Battle.net. During his presentation, he said that it would be 18 months until the next Starcraft II installment, Heart of the Swarm, would see the light of day. That timing would put the release of the hotly anticipated pseudo-sequel to the critically acclaimed real-time strategy game in either March or April 2012.

　　Blizzard says it's "very unlikely" the next Starcraft II will ship this year.

　　This week, Canessa's timing of the next Starcraft II was seconded by another Blizzard Entertainment employee. Speaking with Eurogamer, Starcraft II game director Dustin Browder was asked when he expects Heart of the Swarm to launch.

　　"I don't know the answer to that," said Browder. "I don't think you'll be playing it this year. That seems very unlikely to me. But we're pounding away on it as fast as we possibly can."

　　As for the current installment of Starcraft II, Wings of Liberty, the game earned awards for Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay and Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year at last night's Interactive Achievement Awards, held in conjunction with the DICE Summit in Las Vegas. For more on that game, check out GameSpot's review.