New StarCraft Game Pitches from Korean Developers to Blizzard

Exciting news is stirring within the StarCraft community as Blizzard reportedly receives pitches from several Korean studios eager to expand the iconic sci-fi franchise. According to an article highlighted by @KoreaXboxnews on X / Twitter, Asia Today has revealed that four prominent Korean companies—NCSoft, Nexon, Netmarble, and Krafton—are in a competitive race to develop new StarCraft games and secure the coveted publishing rights. Representatives from some of these studios have even journeyed to Blizzard’s headquarters in Irvine, California, to present their innovative concepts.

NCSoft, known for its work on the Lineage and Guild Wars MMOs, is reportedly pitching a StarCraft RPG, possibly an MMORPG. Nexon, the creator of The First Descendant, is proposing a "unique" take on the StarCraft IP. Meanwhile, Netmarble, which has developed games like Solo Leveling: Arise and Game of Thrones: Kingsroad, is aiming to bring StarCraft to mobile platforms. Krafton, renowned for the battle royale game PUBG and the upcoming The Sims competitor inZOI, is looking to leverage its development expertise for a StarCraft title.

While it's common for video game companies to pitch ideas to one another, the interest from Blizzard in expanding the StarCraft universe is particularly noteworthy, especially given the long hiatus since the last major release in the franchise. Activision Blizzard has declined to comment on these developments when approached by IGN.

Adding to the buzz, Blizzard is reportedly making another attempt at developing a StarCraft shooter, led by former Far Cry executive producer Dan Hay, who joined Blizzard in 2022. This news emerged in September and was discussed by Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier on IGN’s Podcast Unlocked. Schreier, who mentioned the project in his book "Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment," noted that while the project is in development, Blizzard's history with StarCraft shooters has been fraught with challenges.

Blizzard's past attempts at StarCraft shooters have been less than successful. The first, StarCraft Ghost, announced in 2002, was intended to be a tactical-action console game but was canceled in 2006 after numerous delays. A second project, codenamed Ares, was canceled in 2019 to shift focus to Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2. Described as "like Battlefield in the StarCraft universe," Ares also failed to see the light of day.

More recently, in November, Blizzard was seen hiring for an "upcoming open-world shooter game," with indications pointing towards it being a StarCraft FPS. This, coupled with the release of StarCraft: Remastered and StarCraft 2: Campaign Collection on Game Pass and a StarCraft crossover with the Warcraft card game Hearthstone, suggests that Blizzard is slowly but surely ramping up efforts to revive and expand the beloved StarCraft universe.