Blizzard is reportedly receiving a number of pitches for new StarCraft video games from Korean studios, sparking excitement among fans of the beloved sci-fi franchise. According to an article highlighted by the X / Twitter account @KoreaXboxnews and reported by Asia Today, four Korean companies are vying to develop new games based on the StarCraft IP and secure publishing rights. These companies are NCSoft, Nexon, Netmarble, and Krafton, with some of them having visited Blizzard’s headquarters in Irvine, California, to pitch their ideas.
NCSoft, known for its MMOs Lineage and Guild Wars, is rumored to be developing a StarCraft RPG, possibly an MMORPG. Nexon, the creator of The First Descendant, has proposed a "unique" take on the StarCraft IP. Netmarble, with titles like Solo Leveling: Arise and Game of Thrones: Kingsroad under its belt, is aiming to create a StarCraft mobile game. Meanwhile, Krafton, renowned for PUBG and the upcoming The Sims competitor inZOI, is planning a StarCraft game that leverages its own development capabilities.
While pitches for new games are common in the industry, and not all may come to fruition, the interest from Blizzard in expanding the StarCraft universe is noteworthy, especially given the time that has passed since the last game in the franchise. Activision Blizzard has declined to comment on these reports.
In a related development, Blizzard is reportedly making another attempt at developing a StarCraft shooter. This project is led by former Far Cry executive producer Dan Hay, who joined Blizzard in 2022. This news was shared by Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier on IGN’s Podcast Unlocked, discussing his book, "Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment." Schreier mentioned that while the project was in development at the time of writing, there's no guarantee it won't be canceled, given Blizzard's history with StarCraft shooters.
Blizzard has had two previous unsuccessful attempts at creating a StarCraft shooter. The first, StarCraft Ghost, announced in 2002, was a tactical-action console game that was canceled in 2006 after multiple delays. The second, codenamed Ares, was canceled in 2019 to focus on Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2. Ares was described as being similar to Battlefield but set in the StarCraft universe.
More recently, in November, Blizzard was seen hiring for an "upcoming open-world shooter game," with indications pointing towards it being a StarCraft first-person shooter (FPS). Additionally, Blizzard has been actively engaging with the StarCraft community, releasing StarCraft: Remastered and StarCraft 2: Campaign Collection on Game Pass and announcing a StarCraft crossover with the Warcraft card game Hearthstone.
These developments suggest that Blizzard is slowly but surely ramping up efforts to revitalize the StarCraft franchise, much to the anticipation of its dedicated fanbase.
