Exciting news for fans of the iconic StarCraft franchise: Blizzard is reportedly receiving pitches from several Korean studios eager to expand the beloved sci-fi universe. According to Asia Today, as highlighted by @KoreaXboxnews on X / Twitter, four prominent Korean companies—NCSoft, Nexon, Netmarble, and Krafton—are in the race to develop new StarCraft games and secure publishing rights. Some of these studios have even traveled to Blizzard’s headquarters in Irvine, California, to pitch their innovative ideas.
NCSoft, the powerhouse behind the Lineage and Guild Wars MMOs, is reportedly proposing a StarCraft RPG, possibly an MMORPG. Nexon, known for The First Descendant, is pitching a "unique" take on the StarCraft IP. Meanwhile, Netmarble, with titles like Solo Leveling: Arise and Game of Thrones: Kingsroad under its belt, is aiming to bring StarCraft to mobile platforms. Lastly, Krafton, the creators of the battle royale sensation PUBG and the upcoming inZOI, is looking to leverage its development prowess for a StarCraft game.
While pitches and proposals are a common occurrence in the video game industry, the interest from these Korean studios has certainly sparked excitement among StarCraft fans. Blizzard has remained tight-lipped on the matter, declining to comment when approached by IGN. However, the buzz around potential new StarCraft projects is undeniable, especially considering the franchise's long hiatus since the last game.
Adding to the anticipation, it was revealed in September that Blizzard is making another attempt at developing a StarCraft shooter. This project is being led by Dan Hay, a former Far Cry executive producer who joined Blizzard in 2022. This news emerged during a discussion on IGN’s Podcast Unlocked with Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, who mentioned the project in his book, Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment.
Schreier noted that while the project was in development at the time of his writing, its fate remains uncertain given Blizzard's checkered history with StarCraft shooters. Past attempts, such as StarCraft Ghost announced in 2002 and canceled in 2006, and the Ares project canceled in 2019 to focus on Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2, have been fraught with challenges.
Recent developments further fuel the excitement, with Blizzard hiring for an "upcoming open-world shooter game" in November, strongly hinting at another StarCraft FPS. Additionally, Blizzard has been actively engaging the StarCraft community by 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 are eagerly watching to see which of these exciting projects will come to fruition.
