Korean Developers Pitch New StarCraft Game to Blizzard

Blizzard is reportedly exploring new avenues for the beloved StarCraft franchise, with multiple pitches coming from Korean studios. According to Asia Today, four prominent Korean companies—NCSoft, Nexon, Netmarble, and Krafton—are vying to develop new StarCraft games and secure the publishing rights. Representatives from some of these studios have even traveled to Blizzard's headquarters in Irvine, California, to present their proposals.

NCSoft, known for the Lineage and Guild Wars MMOs, is reportedly pitching a StarCraft RPG, possibly an MMORPG. Nexon, behind The First Descendant, has proposed a "unique" use of the StarCraft IP. Netmarble, creators of Solo Leveling: Arise and Game of Thrones: Kingsroad, is looking to develop a StarCraft mobile game. Meanwhile, Krafton, the company behind PUBG and inZOI, aims to leverage its own development capabilities for a new StarCraft game.

While pitches between video game companies are common, StarCraft fans are excited about Blizzard's interest in expanding the sci-fi universe, especially since it's been a while since the last franchise release. Activision Blizzard declined to comment when approached by IGN.

Adding to the buzz, Blizzard is reportedly making another attempt at a StarCraft shooter, marking its third effort. Former Far Cry executive producer Dan Hay, who joined Blizzard in 2022, is leading this project. Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier discussed this development on IGN's Podcast Unlocked, noting that while the project was in development at the time of his book "Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment," Blizzard's history with StarCraft shooters has been rocky.

Blizzard's past attempts at StarCraft shooters include the canceled StarCraft Ghost, announced in 2002 and meant to be a tactical-action console game. Another project, codenamed Ares and likened to "Battlefield in the StarCraft universe," was also canceled in 2019 to focus on Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2. More recently, Blizzard was seen hiring for an "upcoming open-world shooter game," believed to be a StarCraft FPS.

The StarCraft franchise is seeing renewed activity, with Blizzard recently releasing StarCraft: Remastered and StarCraft 2: Campaign Collection on Game Pass, alongside announcing a StarCraft crossover with the Warcraft card game Hearthstone.