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SINGAPORE — Taiwanese computer manufacturer MSI showed off one of its laptops themed after Blizzard’s online multiplayer game Heroes of the Storm this weekend at Singapore’s GamesStart convention.
The company has partnered with Blizzard Entertainment to release specially skinned versions of three of its G-series gaming rigs — the GE62 Apache, the GT72 Dominator and the GT80. All three will be available in stores in Singapore and Malaysia on November 30, though the company has so far kept quiet on the international availability of these laptops.
Displayed at GameStart was the entry level GE62, a 15.6-inch machine running an Intel i7-6700HQ processor with 8GBs of RAM and a NVIDIA GTX 960m graphics card. MSI has wrapped the entire device in a Heroes of the Storm skin. Despite the “entry level” label, you’ll have to fork out S$2,299, which converts directly to about $1,610, AU$2,270 or £1,060.
Released in June 2015, Blizzard’s Heroes of the Storm is a mutiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game that features characters from the developer’s iconic franchises, including Diablo, StarCraft and Warcraft. Though Activision Blizzard hasn’t revealed how many users play the game, in August it said there were 70 million monthly active users between Heroes of the Storm, Destiny and Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft.
Along with new Heroes of the Storm-inspired shells, owners of the new machines will also receive codes that can be redeemed for heroes and skins in the game. The themed laptops will cost the same as their non-skinned versions.
Second in the line-up, the GT72 is a more powerful 17.3-inch beast rocking an Intel Core i7-6820HK processor, a top of the line GTX980m graphics card, 16GBof RAM and a 256GB SSD, 1TB combo drive. Similar to the GE62, with the GT72 you’ll get a wraparound skin on the front, but on this model MSI amped up the extravagance by laser engraving a mural of the game on the laptop’s back. This model will set Singaporeans back S$4,599 (roughly $3,230, AU$4,540, £2,120).
The piece de resistance in MSI’s lineup is the GT-80, an absolutely beastly piece of tech. This is the same futuristic-looking machine that packs in the world’s first mechanical keyboard on a laptop and two NVIDIA GTX 980m graphics cards. It’s also equipped with an 18.4-inch IPS display, an Intel Core i7-6820HK processor and 32GB of DDR4 RAM. On this model, MSI has included a larger laser cut engraving on the back. On the inside, you also get a special skin on the space above the mechanical keyboard. The price for this monster of a laptop is S$5,999 (about $4,210, AU$5,920 or £2,800).
