Pre-orders open next week for StarCraft: Tabletop Miniatures Game
Beta success, expansive plans revealed
Archon Studio has lifted the curtain further on the upcoming StarCraft: Tabletop Miniatures Game during a two-hour ‘Ask Me Anything’ livestream, revealing the results of its large-scale beta test, outlining an ambitious multi-year product roadmap and demonstrating the contents of the game’s first wave of releases.
The session offered the clearest picture yet of how the game will launch, how Archon Studio intends to support it through digital tools and why the company believes the StarCraft universe could sustain a miniature game line for a decade or more.
Strong beta feedback and near-ready balance
The recent closed beta ran for roughly six weeks and generated a large amount of data from players across the globe.
According to the developers, the testing produced around 775 battle reports and nearly 8,000 pieces of feedback submitted through the game’s companion beta app.
Average satisfaction from testers landed at 8.6 out of 10, with the game’s ‘StarCraft vibe’ scoring even higher at 9.1.
Other key metrics included:
Engagement: 8.4.
Emotional response: 8.6.
Gameplay depth: 8.8.
Replayability: 9.1.
Balance between factions also appears healthy. Current win rates between the main factions sit around 47/47/45 which the designers say places the game within acceptable competitive parameters ahead of launch.
Developers indicated only minor point adjustments may still be required, rather than fundamental rule changes.
Companion app will become a free game hub
A major part of Archon Studio’s plan is the evolution of the beta testing app into a full companion platform for players.
The current beta version will eventually open to everyone, removing login requirements and becoming a free rules repository.
Planned features include:
Free access to all game rules.
Community map editor.
Scenario and mission creation tools.
Mission dashboards with community voting.
Tournament map sharing.
Local event calendar for stores and organisers.
The mission creation system is particularly notable. Players will be able to design custom missions and publish them to a community board where others can vote them up. Popular missions could eventually become semi-official formats for organised play.
Archon Studio said these tools will extend the lifespan of the game significantly by encouraging community-driven content.
A decade of StarCraft content?
One recurring concern from fans has been whether the StarCraft universe contains enough units to support a long-running miniature game line.
The developers strongly disagree.
Using only a few examples from Terran, Zerg and Protoss factions, Archon Studio demonstrated how the game’s ‘race plus sub-faction’ design dramatically expands the available content.
For instance:
Terran ‘vanilla’ unit pool: 19 potential units.
Raynor’s Raiders additions: 12 more units.
Nova’s forces: additional unique variants.
A similar structure exists for the other races:
Zerg: core units plus sub-factions such as Kerrigan’s brood and Dehaka’s pack.
Protoss: base faction with potential expansions like Alarak and Fenix forces.
Even using only a handful of these sub-factions, the developers estimate over 40 potential entries per race.
At a release cadence of one unit every three months, that alone could provide around 10 years of content before even touching additional characters or deeper lore.
The design philosophy is simple. Players collect a core faction, then add a small number of models to transform it into a different sub-faction for a new playstyle.
Release schedule for 2026
Archon Studio also laid out a preliminary roadmap for the game’s first year of releases.
Wave 1 – pre-orders (March)
Pre-orders begin 10 March 2026, with shipping expected around April–May.
The launch wave includes:
Goliath.
Hydralisks.
Stalker.
Founders Edition starter boxes.
Wave 2 – June
The second wave introduces key counter-units to broaden the early meta:
Siege Tank.
Ravager.
Immortal.
Standard Zeratul hero model.
Wave 3 – August
The third wave focuses on support casters and heroes:
High Templars.
Tassadar.
Defiler.
Zagara.
Raven.
Nova.
Additional terrain sets, including maps inspired by High Ground and Lost Temple, are also planned for this period.
Narrative campaign
Around the same time, designer Sam Pearson is developing a narrative campaign system, expected between the August and October waves.
This is the bit I’m most excited about. So many questions …
Wave 4 – October
The fourth release wave introduces flying units:
Banshee.
Mutalisk.
Scout.
Wave 5 – December
The final wave of the year remains to be announced, with internal discussion still ongoing about which units should arrive next. An infographic did heavily hint at the following though: firebat, Mengsk, infested marines, Stukov, dragoon and Fenix.
Promotional miniatures will also appear throughout the year at trade shows such as AdeptiCon and Essen.
Inside the boxes
The livestream also featured an extensive unboxing of the starter products most of which have been previously revealed.
Many units include optional assembly choices such as alternate heads, weapon loadouts or visual effects pieces.
Clear plastic components are also included for shields, weapon effects and other visual elements. These can either be used as-is or painted over depending on hobby preference.
Some sprues even include extra basing details such as crystals and creep patches to help players decorate their armies.
Interestingly, Archon Studio are not too fussed about what-you-see-is-what-you-get in terms of the build of a mini. They are ‘not that kind of company’ and don’t expect players to have specific models for every variant of roach for example.
Gameplay expectations
The developers confirmed the game supports two main formats:
Skirmish (1,000 points), roughly one hour.
Standard engagement (2,000 points), about two hours.
Experienced players are expected to finish larger games in around 90 minutes which Archon Studio reckons will make the system attractive for events and tournaments.
Pricing and bundles
Archon Studio is positioning the game as relatively accessible compared with many tabletop miniature systems.
It’s still a little pricey for my liking though and I’m sure postage fees will suck.
These are all the current pre-order deals which will be available when the launch party kicks off next week.
Several bundles were also announced, including:
Faction starter bundles,
two-army Terran vs Zerg bundles,
a collector bundle with every Wave 1 release and
a massive three-player ‘all-in’ Founders Edition bundle.
The largest package includes three full armies, terrain and additional units with roughly 23 per cent savings compared with individual purchases.
Watch the AMA
Everything discussed in this post came from this recent Archon Studio video.