On April 19, Blizzard delivered the first patch for the original StarCraft in over eight years, and with it offered the game up completely free for everyone. However, that was just the pre-cursor to the other update StarCraft was set to get: a complete remaster of the game.

A little over two months on and Blizzard is ready to give us a remaster release date. StarCraft: Remastered complete with the StarCraft: Brood War expansion will be available to play for Windows and Mac on August 14.

Offering the original game for free and then asking us to pay for the remastered version means it needs to include some significant upgrades, and Blizzard is certainly set to deliver on that front. First up is the graphics, which have been upgraded to 4K including support for widescreen displays. To compliment the graphics we should also expect high fidelity music and sound while playing.

Away from graphics and audio, Blizzard also took the time to implement new matchmaking and leaderboards. There's a new player profile solution complete with the ability to track individual stats, and a cloud save system that will remember your hotkey mappings and replays as well as campaign progress. And if you don't like the look of the remastered graphics, you can switch back to the original with a button press.

If these upgrades alone aren't quite enough to entice a purchase, Blizzard is offering a couple more incentives. Anyone pre-ordering the game before August 14 will receive "three unique building skins for use in StarCraft: Remastered - the Char Hive, the Korhal Command Center, and the Aiur Nexus." They will also receive "digital bonuses in StarCraft II, including the Alexei Stukov co-op commander and three unique portraits that celebrate StarCraft: Remastered."

As for the price, Blizzard only wants $14.99. I expected it to be double that.