A whole bunch of Korean studios are trying to convince Blizzard to let them make a new StarCraft game, including MMO specialist NCSoft
A new report in Asia Today (spotted by IGN) says that four different Korean publishers are pitching StarCraft games to Blizzard, in the latest attempt to bring back the iconic RTS franchise.
Ah yes, the good old RTS. StarCraft rumours come around fairly regularly but rarely do they centre on anything as absurd as a Starcraft 3 following up two of the greatest RTS games ever made: nope, what seems to get Blizzard excited these days is anything but.
The four Korean companies competing to pitch for the StarCraft license are NCSoft, Nexon, Netmarble, and Krafton. NCSoft, known for Lineage and Guild Wars among other MMOs, is claimed to have been pitching a StarCraft RPG, which presumably would be an MMO.
Nexon has pitched a "unique" take on the universe. Krafton, which owns PUBG as well as more recently being in the headlines for Inzoi, is going for something "based on its own development capabilities," according to a machine translation of Asia Today's report. And Netmarble? It's going for a mobile game, so Blizzard's probably going to go with that pitch (I jest of course).
Pitches are pitches and, even if anything comes of these, it will be many years before we see any kind of actual game out of this. But I'd say there are two notable aspects to this development.
The first is that StarCraft originally became a phenomenon in South Korea, with the much-improved Brood War turbocharging one of the most exciting esports scenes in history, and Starcraft 2 keeping that legacy alive. The game is arguably better-known and more beloved in South Korea than anywhere else in the world, and I don't think it's a coincidence that this pitching process involves four giant Korean companies.
The second point is simply that Blizzard's listening, and may even have invited such pitches. The Asia Today report says it has confirmed that "some of these game companies have gone all the way to Blizzard’s headquarters in California to hold presentations in order to secure a competitive edge."
Well. Last year brought the news that, while Blizzard has at least one StarCraft project under development in-house, it's the studio's third attempt at making a shooter in that universe (following the cancelled projects Ghost and Ares). "If it's not cancelled," said author Jason Schreier at the time. "I mean, this is Blizzard after all. Yes, that is a project that, as far as I knew, was in development. At least, as of the time that I wrote this book [...] this felt like such an interesting and useful nugget to include because it really just shows you that Blizzard cannot quit StarCraft shooters."
If you sense that the wind might be changing for StarCraft, you're not alone, but let's not get our hopes up. Recent years have brought nice things like StarCraft: Remastered and a crossover with Hearthstone, as well as a new tabletop miniatures game announced last week, though nary a hint of the number three (feels familiar). All new StarCraft stuff is welcome, and perhaps one of Blizzard's suitors will make a great game. But make no mistake: I love StarCraft because it's an amazing real-time strategy game and, if that isn't in some way part of its future DNA, I'm not sure that love will last.