AusGamers took to Melbourne early last week to join in on the launch festivities of one of this year's biggest PC releases, StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm.

Among the thousands of fans who turned up to ring in the midnight launch for the game, Blizzard also hosted a number of guests including Aussie SC2 eSports legend mOOnGLaDe, Aussie ex-pat and incredible Blizzard artist, Luke Mancini, and shoutcaster Leigh "Maynarde" Mandalov, among others.

The top guest for the night though was friend of the site -- Blizzard's own Dustin Browder who took to the stage for lengthy Q&As and stayed back long into the hours signing copies of the game for patient fans. It was a real treat having such top Blizz talent rocking Melbourne's Federation Square and the crowd reaction to almost anything on the night sold passersby on the strength of both gaming and eSports here in Australia.

Despite the heat, the crowd and host interaction remained top-notch throughout and gave a real show to confused Future Music leavers (and other randoms), a few of whom we caught getting wrapped up in the exhibition matches Blizzard hosted thanks to the crowd's reactions to exciting moments which, all in all, spells a bright future in our books for the growth of eSports in Australia.

The following day, however, came our own prize as we were handed an audience with Dustin (once again), who spilled the beans closing out development of Heart of the Swarm and gave us a tantalising glimpse at what we can expect with the final expansion in the SC2 storyline: Legacy of the Void.

Click here for our full interview feature, and click the thumbnails below for a closer look at SC2's Melbourne launch festivities.