Blizzard has sent along word to us that the closed beta for the upcoming release of Starcraft 2 is now starting. This is the first phase of Beta testing and gamers should have received their invitations already to begin downloading.

"Gathering concentrated feedback from our players is an important step for us as we head into the final stretch of development for StarCraft II and the new Battle.net service," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We look forward to having our players' help in polishing the overall experience and preparing for launch."

The game is slated to ship in the first quarter of 2010 for PC. The beta download rings in at 1.64 GB and you can download it by signing into your Battle.net account.