Blizzard, the developer of games such as "Overwatch" and "Hearthstone" as well as the game franchises of "Diablo" and "Warcraft", released a patch for the original Starcraft game.  The official patch notes for the latest update clearly says that "Starcraft" and "Starcraft: Brood War" are now free.

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The classic real-time-strategy game was launched back in early 1998.  Its "Brood War" expansion was released later the same year. 

It has been more than 8 years since a patch has been released for the game.  The last update for the first "Starcraft" game was released in 2009.

The most recent patch released by Blizard, updates the game to version 1.18.  The most signficant change mentioned in the patch notes posted on the official "Starcraft" website, is that the game and its expansion are already free to download and play.

Blizzard explicitly states in the patch notes that "Starcraft" and "Starcraft: Brood War" are now free.  They go on to provide the links to PC and Mac setup files on Blizzard's site, Battle.net, for users to download and install the game.

Aside from the game being made free, the patch also provides bug fixes and improvements to the game.  It fixes graphic glitches, network issues, and text artifacts in Battle.net menus.

The update adds new features such as a windowed and fullscreen mode, Observer mode, autosaving for replays, and an update to a new OpenGL backend.  The patch makes the game better with improvements in compatibility with Windows 7, 8.1 and 10, gameplay responsiveness during multiplayer, anticheat capabilities, installation and patching performance, and Mac Beta support for 10.11 and up.

"Starcraft" is considered one of the most influential games of all time for its balanced gameplay and in pioneering esports.  It popularized the concept of competitive video games as a sport that could be watched by large numbers of fans and entertain them.

A remastered version of the classic game will be released later this summer.  "Starcraft: Remastered" will be compatible with the multiplayer of the original game.  Fans who own the remastered game will be able to play online against other fans who use the free version.