New StarCraft Game Pitches from Korean Developers to Blizzard

Blizzard Entertainment is reportedly considering several pitches for new StarCraft video games from prominent Korean studios. According to an article highlighted by the X / Twitter account @KoreaXboxnews and reported by Asia Today, four Korean companies are in the race to develop new games based on the StarCraft intellectual property (IP) and secure publishing rights: NCSoft, Nexon, Netmarble, and Krafton. Some of these companies have even made trips to Blizzard's headquarters in Irvine, California, to pitch their ideas directly.

NCSoft, known for the Lineage and Guild Wars MMOs, has proposed a StarCraft RPG, possibly an MMORPG. Nexon, the developer behind 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 create a StarCraft mobile game. Meanwhile, Krafton, renowned for PUBG and inZOI, wants to leverage its development capabilities to create a new StarCraft game.

While pitches and proposals are common in the gaming industry, the interest from Blizzard in expanding the StarCraft universe has caught the attention of fans, especially given the long hiatus since the last game in the franchise. Activision Blizzard has declined to comment on these developments when approached by IGN.

In addition to these pitches, Blizzard has been making its own efforts to revive the StarCraft franchise. In September, it was revealed that Blizzard is working on its 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, 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 writing, there's no guarantee it will see the light of day, given Blizzard's rocky history with StarCraft shooters.

Blizzard's past attempts at StarCraft shooters include StarCraft Ghost, announced in 2002 but canceled in 2006 after multiple delays, and a project codenamed Ares, canceled in 2019 to focus on Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2. More recently, Blizzard has been hiring for an "upcoming open-world shooter game," which is believed to be a StarCraft FPS.

Amid these developments, Blizzard has been actively engaging with the StarCraft community. The company recently released StarCraft: Remastered and StarCraft 2: Campaign Collection on Game Pass and announced a crossover with the Warcraft card game Hearthstone, indicating a renewed focus on the beloved sci-fi universe.