Blizzard Entertainment on Thursday unveiled plans to release both standard and a limited-edition “Collector’s Edition” releases of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, its hotly anticipated real time strategy game. A release date has not yet been scheduled, but Blizzard indicated that it will announce the release schedule in the coming weeks.

StarCraft II is set in outer space, where humans, Protoss, and Zerg square off against each other in fierce battles for territorial dominance. The game features both a single-player campaign and multiplayer modes, enabling players to compete via Battle.net, Blizzard’s own game matching service which is currently undergoing a major overhaul to support new features including voice communication, character profiles and achievements, stat-tracking, tournament ladders, leagues, and “cloud”-based file storage.

The single-player storyline essentially picks up where StarCraft: Brood War leaves off, chronicling the story of Jim Raynor, a Terran marine marshall turned rebel leader. It’s a 29-mission storyline. The game also includes minigames, dozens of multiplayer maps and more.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is the sequel to the original StarCraft, first released for the Mac in 1999. Unlike the first StarCraft, StarCraft II will be released for Windows and Mac OS X simultaneously. The standard edition will cost $59.99, available as both a retail box and an online download; the Collector’s Edition will be priced at $99.99 and will be available through retail only.

In addition to the game, the Collector’s Edition includes “The Art of StarCraft II,” a 176-page art book; a 2GB flash drive replace of Jim Raynor’s dog tag, pre-loaded with the original StarCraft game and its Brood War expansion pack; a behind-the-scenes DVD; a soundtrack CD; StarCraft comic book issue #0 (a prequel to the comic book series); a mini-Thor in-game pet for World of Warcraft; and exclusive downloadable content available through Battle.net, Blizzard’s online game matching, download and authentication service.