Various retail outlets have pinned a December 3, 2008, release date for StarCraft II, Blizzard’s highly anticipated real-time strategy game. While this date could simply be a place marker, which is not uncommon for upcoming anticipated games, multiple retail chains--Best Buy, Circuit City, GameStop--have echoed the same release date. However, the release date is not unanimous across every major retail chain. Walmart and Amazon.com currently have no release date for the game.

According to a Bay Area GameStop manager, Blizzard has told the retailer that the game is on schedule for 2008 and gave the company a go ahead for the December 3 ship date. IGN has contacted Blizzard for comment, and the company denied the release date. "The truth is that there is no official release date for StarCraft II. The game will ship when it’s done, and not a moment sooner," said a Blizzard representative.

Blizzard has always been known for its "it will be done when it’s done" approach to making games and is equally famous for its game delays. The company has mentioned in the past that it is aiming for a 2008 release, and while the recent release date rumor is not confirmation of StarCraft II coming out this year, it does bolster the time frame.

Blizzard’s next major public event, the 2008 World Wide Invitational Tournament, is right around the corner and will be held on June 28 and 29 in Paris, France. Hopefully we’ll receive more news by then. Stay tuned.