Blizzard is reportedly receiving quite a lot of pitches for brand spanking new StarCraft video video games from Korean studios.
In an article dropped at the web’s consideration by X / Twitter account @KoreaXboxnews, Asia At the moment listed 4 Korean corporations who’re reportedly competing with one another to develop new video games primarily based on the StarCraft IP and safe publishing rights: NCSoft, Nexon, Netmarble, and Krafton. Apparently a few of these corporations have traveled to Blizzard’s headquarters in Irvine, California, to make their pitches.
NCSoft, which is behind the Lineage and Guild Wars MMOs, is claimed to have pitched a StarCraft RPG of some sort (an MMORPG?). Nexon, maker of The First Descendant, has pitched a “distinctive” use of the StarCraft IP. Netmarble (Solo Leveling: Come up, Sport of Thrones: Kingsroad) is hoping to make a StarCraft cell sport. And Krafton, the corporate behind battle royale PUBG and The Sims competitor inZOI, desires to make a StarCraft sport “primarily based by itself growth capabilities.”
In fact, online game corporations pitch different online game corporations on a regular basis in terms of securing publishing rights and growth contracts. And it might be the case that nothing talked about right here goes wherever. However StarCraft followers will definitely pay attention to Blizzard’s reported curiosity in doing… one thing to develop the much-loved sci-fi universe, given how lengthy it’s been for the reason that final sport within the franchise got here out. Activision Blizzard declined to remark when contacted by IGN.
It’s value remembering that in September, it emerged that Blizzard was making a 3rd try at growing a StarCraft shooter, with former Far Cry govt producer Dan Hay, who joined Blizzard in 2022, main the cost.
The information got here from Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier whereas chatting with IGN’s Podcast Unlocked, under, about his current e book, Play Good: The Rise, Fall, and Way forward for Blizzard Leisure. Hay’s StarCraft shooter is talked about within the e book, and IGN’s Ryan McCaffrey requested Schreier if it’s prone to truly come out.
“If it’s not canceled!” Schreier replied. “That is Blizzard in any case. Their historical past with StarCraft shooters will not be good.
“Sure, that could be a challenge that so far as I do know is in growth, or at the very least as of the time that I wrote this e book was in growth. They’re engaged on a StarCraft shooter, StarCraft will not be useless at Blizzard.
“The aim of the e book isn’t to get a bunch of scoops about upcoming issues. That wasn’t the aim of this e book in any respect, it was very a lot to inform a narrative and concentrate on stuff that had occurred. However this felt like such an attention-grabbing and helpful nugget to incorporate as a result of it actually simply reveals you that Blizzard can’t stop StarCraft shooters.”
That was a reference to Blizzard’s notorious try to launch a StarCraft shooter previously as a part of a bid to develop the StarCraft franchise past its real-time technique origins. StarCraft Ghost, introduced in 2002, was going to be a tactical-action console sport through which you performed as a lethal Ghost operative within the make use of of the Dominion, however it was canceled in 2006 after a collection of delays.
A second try to make a StarCraft shooter, codenamed Ares, was canceled in 2019 so Blizzard may concentrate on Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2. Ares was reportedly “like Battlefield within the StarCraft universe,” however, like Ghost, fell by the wayside.
Extra lately, in November, Blizzard was noticed hiring for an “upcoming open-world shooter sport,” with all indicators pointing to it being a StarCraft FPS.
Issues are slowly ramping up for StarCraft. Blizzard lately launched StarCraft: Remastered and StarCraft 2: Marketing campaign Assortment on Sport Go, and introduced a StarCraft crossover with Warcraft card sport Hearthstone.
Wesley is the UK Information Editor for IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You may attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.