New StarCraft Game Pitches from Korean Developers to Blizzard

Blizzard is reportedly in talks with several Korean studios to expand the StarCraft universe with new video games. According to Asia Today, as highlighted by the X / Twitter account @KoreaXboxnews, four prominent Korean companies are vying for the chance to develop and secure publishing rights for new StarCraft titles: NCSoft, Nexon, Netmarble, and Krafton. Representatives from these companies have even traveled to Blizzard's headquarters in Irvine, California, to present their pitches.

NCSoft, known for its work on the Lineage and Guild Wars MMOs, is proposing a StarCraft RPG, potentially an MMORPG. Nexon, the developer behind The First Descendant, is offering a "unique" take on the StarCraft IP. Netmarble, which has worked on games like Solo Leveling: Arise and Game of Thrones: Kingsroad, is aiming to create a mobile game within the StarCraft universe. Meanwhile, Krafton, the studio behind PUBG and the upcoming The Sims competitor inZOI, wants to leverage its own development strengths to craft a StarCraft game.

While pitches between game companies are common, the interest from Blizzard in expanding the StarCraft franchise is significant, especially given the time elapsed since the last game release. Activision Blizzard did not provide a comment when approached by IGN.

This development comes on the heels of news from September about Blizzard's third attempt at creating a StarCraft shooter, led by former Far Cry executive producer Dan Hay, who joined Blizzard in 2022. Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier discussed this project during an appearance on IGN’s Podcast Unlocked while promoting his book, Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment. Schreier mentioned that the StarCraft shooter, if not canceled, is in development, underscoring Blizzard's persistent interest in the franchise despite past setbacks.

Blizzard's history with StarCraft shooters has been turbulent. The infamous StarCraft Ghost, announced in 2002 and intended to be a tactical-action console game, was canceled in 2006 after numerous delays. Another attempt, codenamed Ares and described as "like Battlefield in the StarCraft universe," was also canceled in 2019 to shift focus to Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2.

More recently, in November, Blizzard posted job listings for an "upcoming open-world shooter game," suggesting continued efforts toward a 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.

The future of StarCraft appears to be slowly but surely taking shape, with multiple projects in various stages of development and consideration.