Blizzard’s StarCraft: Cartooned makes the RTS classic look like a kid’s TV show

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  This is a real thing, and it can now be yours for $10 at Battle.net. [credit:
  Blizzard Entertainment / Carbot Animations ]

Do not be deceived by the above gallery. This is not a prank or a proof of concept. StarCraft: Cartooned is now live at Blizzard’s online store as an official $10 add-on to 2017’s StarCraft Remastered. It redraws every single piece of art in the classic RTS game to look and animate like a children’s cartoon, without otherwise changing the core gameplay.

Specifically, StarCraft: Cartooned looks like a Carbot Animations cartoon—because the YouTube channel in question, operated by Canadian artist and animator Jonathan Burton, was tapped to create Blizzard’s first full cosmetic overhaul mod for a retail game.

The Cartooned DLC does not add any new gameplay or mechanical content to the StarCraft Remastered package. Instead, it transforms every single graphical element in the game, from menus to sprites to between-mission briefings, to look like the Carbot Animations animated series “StarCrafts,” now in its seventh season on YouTube. (Carbot’s YouTube channel also includes unofficial animated series based on Blizzard game series Diablo and WarCraft.)