Blizzard Entertainment is reportedly receiving multiple pitches from Korean studios for new games based on the iconic StarCraft franchise. According to an article highlighted by the X / Twitter account @KoreaXboxnews, Asia Today revealed that four prominent Korean companies—NCSoft, Nexon, Netmarble, and Krafton—are in the race to develop and secure publishing rights for new StarCraft games. Representatives from some of these companies have even visited Blizzard’s headquarters in Irvine, California, to present their pitches.
NCSoft, known for the Lineage and Guild Wars MMOs, proposed a StarCraft RPG, possibly an MMORPG. Nexon, the studio behind The First Descendant, pitched a "unique" take on the StarCraft IP. Netmarble, which developed Solo Leveling: Arise and Game of Thrones: Kingsroad, is aiming to create a StarCraft mobile game. Meanwhile, Krafton, the developer of PUBG and the upcoming The Sims rival inZOI, suggested a game leveraging their own development strengths.
While pitches and discussions are common in the gaming industry, it remains uncertain if any of these proposals will materialize. However, this news is significant for StarCraft fans, who have been eagerly awaiting new content since the franchise's last major release. Activision Blizzard has not provided any comments on these developments when approached by IGN.
Adding to the excitement, Blizzard has reportedly made a third attempt at developing a StarCraft shooter. This project is being led by former Far Cry executive producer Dan Hay, who joined Blizzard in 2022. The news surfaced from Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier during an interview on IGN’s Podcast Unlocked, discussing his book, Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment.
Schreier mentioned that the StarCraft shooter, while in development as of his book's writing, could still face cancellation, referencing Blizzard's challenging history with StarCraft shooters. Notably, Blizzard previously attempted to expand the StarCraft universe with StarCraft Ghost, announced in 2002 and canceled in 2006 after numerous delays. Another project, codenamed Ares and described as "like Battlefield in the StarCraft universe," was canceled in 2019 to focus on Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2.
More recent signs of Blizzard's commitment to StarCraft include a job posting for an "upcoming open-world shooter game," which many speculate to be a StarCraft FPS. Furthermore, Blizzard has released StarCraft: Remastered and StarCraft 2: Campaign Collection on Game Pass and announced a StarCraft crossover with the Warcraft card game Hearthstone, indicating a gradual ramp-up of activity around the beloved franchise.
