Blizzard is reportedly receiving a number of pitches for new StarCraft video games from Korean studios, sparking excitement and speculation among fans of the iconic sci-fi franchise. According to an article highlighted by X / Twitter account @KoreaXboxnews and reported by Asia Today, four Korean companies are in the running to develop new games based on the StarCraft IP and secure publishing rights. These companies are NCSoft, Nexon, Netmarble, and Krafton, and some have even visited Blizzard’s headquarters in Irvine, California, to pitch their ideas.
NCSoft, known for the Lineage and Guild Wars MMOs, has proposed a StarCraft RPG, potentially an MMORPG. Nexon, the developer behind The First Descendant, is pitching 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, famous for PUBG and inZOI, is interested in developing a StarCraft game leveraging its own development capabilities.
While such pitches are common in the gaming industry, the involvement of these prominent studios has raised hopes among StarCraft enthusiasts, especially given the franchise's long hiatus since its last major release. Activision Blizzard has declined to comment on these developments.
Adding to the buzz, it was revealed in September that Blizzard is 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. Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier discussed this in his book, "Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment," during an interview on IGN’s Podcast Unlocked. Schreier noted that while the project was in development as of his book's writing, its future remains uncertain given Blizzard's track record with StarCraft shooters.
Blizzard's past efforts to expand the StarCraft franchise into shooters have been fraught with challenges. StarCraft Ghost, announced in 2002, was a tactical-action console game that was ultimately canceled in 2006 after numerous delays. A second attempt, codenamed Ares, which aimed to be "like Battlefield in the StarCraft universe," was also canceled in 2019 to focus on Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2.
More recently, in November, Blizzard posted job listings for an "upcoming open-world shooter game," with indications pointing towards a StarCraft FPS. Alongside these developments, Blizzard has been actively engaging with the StarCraft community, releasing StarCraft: Remastered and StarCraft 2: Campaign Collection on Game Pass and announcing a crossover with the Warcraft card game Hearthstone.
As Blizzard continues to explore new avenues for the StarCraft universe, fans remain hopeful that these efforts will lead to exciting new additions to the beloved franchise.
