Blizzard Entertainment is reportedly receiving several pitches from Korean studios interested in developing new games within the StarCraft universe. According to Asia Today, as highlighted by the X / Twitter account @KoreaXboxnews, four prominent Korean companies—NCSoft, Nexon, Netmarble, and Krafton—are competing to secure the rights to create and publish new StarCraft titles. Representatives from these companies have reportedly visited Blizzard's headquarters in Irvine, California, to present their proposals.
NCSoft, known for its MMOs Lineage and Guild Wars, has proposed developing a StarCraft RPG, possibly an MMORPG. Nexon, the creator of The First Descendant, has pitched 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 craft a StarCraft mobile game. Meanwhile, Krafton, famous for PUBG and the upcoming The Sims competitor inZOI, wants to leverage its own development capabilities to create a new StarCraft game.
While pitches and negotiations are common in the video game industry, there's no guarantee that any of these proposals will come to fruition. However, the news has sparked interest among StarCraft fans, eager for new developments in the beloved sci-fi franchise, especially since it has been a while since the last game release. Activision Blizzard has declined to comment on these reports when approached by IGN.
Adding to the buzz, Blizzard has been making moves to expand the StarCraft universe. In September, it was revealed that Blizzard is working on a third attempt at developing a StarCraft shooter, 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 while discussing 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 book's writing, Blizzard's history with StarCraft shooters has been rocky.
Blizzard's previous attempts at a StarCraft shooter include the canceled StarCraft Ghost, announced in 2002 and meant to be a tactical-action console game, which was ultimately canceled in 2006 after numerous delays. Another project, codenamed Ares, described as "like Battlefield in the StarCraft universe," was also canceled in 2019 to focus on Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2. More recently, in November, Blizzard was seen hiring for an "upcoming open-world shooter game," with indications pointing towards it being a StarCraft FPS.
Blizzard is also taking steps to keep the StarCraft franchise alive, with the release of StarCraft: Remastered and StarCraft 2: Campaign Collection on Game Pass, and a crossover event with the Warcraft card game Hearthstone. These developments suggest that Blizzard is committed to expanding and revitalizing the StarCraft universe.
