New StarCraft Game Pitches from Korean Developers to Blizzard: Report

Blizzard is reportedly receiving multiple pitches from Korean studios to develop new games based on the StarCraft IP. According to an article highlighted by the X / Twitter account @KoreaXboxnews, Asia Today named four Korean companies competing to secure publishing rights for StarCraft games: NCSoft, Nexon, Netmarble, and Krafton. Representatives from some of these companies have reportedly visited Blizzard’s headquarters in Irvine, California, to present their pitches.

NCSoft, known for Lineage and Guild Wars, is said to be proposing 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, is aiming to develop a StarCraft mobile game. Meanwhile, Krafton, the studio behind PUBG and inZOI, wants to create a StarCraft game leveraging its own development strengths.

It's common for video game companies to pitch ideas to secure development contracts and publishing rights, and not all pitches may lead to finalized projects. However, StarCraft fans are keenly interested in Blizzard’s apparent intent to expand the beloved sci-fi universe, especially given the time since the last franchise game was released. Activision Blizzard declined to comment when approached by IGN.

In September, it was revealed that Blizzard is working on its third attempt at a StarCraft shooter, led by former Far Cry executive producer Dan Hay, who joined Blizzard in 2022. Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier discussed this project 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, as of his book's writing, was still in development, emphasizing that StarCraft remains alive at Blizzard.

Blizzard's history with StarCraft shooters has been challenging. The infamous StarCraft Ghost, announced in 2002, aimed to be a tactical-action console game but was canceled in 2006 after numerous delays. A second attempt, codenamed Ares and described as "like Battlefield in the StarCraft universe," was canceled in 2019 to shift focus to 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. Additionally, Blizzard has been actively promoting StarCraft, releasing StarCraft: Remastered and StarCraft 2: Campaign Collection on Game Pass, and announcing a StarCraft crossover with the Warcraft card game Hearthstone.