Blizzard has announced that with the release of the StarCraft II patch 4.3.0, it will bring paid premium maps to StarCraft 2 Arcade. As the team noted, these two high-quality premium Arcade maps promise to offer different kinds of experiences and when you purchase them, a share of the sales will go directly to the developers who made them.

The first map is called ARK Star and follows the Sol Seekers, an elite team of templar on a mission to find and destroy a mysterious weapon known as the ARK Star. Players will discover and craft new equipment to strengthen their squads, level up and unlock new talents and abilities to customize their play style, and “bring the wrath of the templar onto their foes.”

The second map is called Direct Strike which is the next evolution of Desert Strike HotS, one of StarCraft II’s most popular Arcade maps ever. Contrary to ARK Maps, there will be a free version for Direct Strike and players will be able to upgrade to a premium version that will enhance the experience with cosmetics and new modes.

It will be interesting to see how the StarCraft 2 community will react to these paid mods. Let’s not forget that Bethesda also tried to do something similar with Skyrim and it backfired. Will Blizzard succeed where Bethesda failed?