Blizzard Entertainment is reviving the StarCraft franchise as an open-world shooter, with a release planned for 2030. The announcement came at BlizzCon from Dan Hay, a vice president at Blizzard, who took the stage to reveal the project. The new game is simply titled StarCraft. It marks the series' return after more than a decade without a new installment.
The last StarCraft II expansion pack arrived 10 years before the announcement. Blizzard has attempted to move the StarCraft universe into 3D shooters once before. That effort, StarCraft: Ghost, was announced in 2002 and spent years in development. Blizzard president Mike Morhaime confirmed in 2014 that the project had been canceled.
Hay presented a cinematic trailer for the new title at the event. The trailer centered on the human United Earth Directorate faction as it prepares to fight the Zerg. The Protoss receive only a passing mention. The footage depicted a militaristic call to arms before showing the brutal realities of battle.
In the trailer, the character followed for roughly three minutes is revealed to be disposable fuel for the war effort. The presentation suggested the new take on StarCraft will not soften its portrayal of combat. The game abandons the top-down real-time strategy format associated with the series. Instead, it adopts an open-world shooter design.
The announcement is likely to draw interest from a US gaming audience that has waited years for the series to continue. Fans have responded with excitement that Blizzard is bringing the long-dormant franchise back. Some are also waiting to see whether a proper real-time strategy follow-up to 2010's StarCraft II will ever arrive. Blizzard has not indicated that such a project is in development.
The 2030 release window places the new StarCraft well beyond the last entry in the series. Blizzard's decision to revisit the universe as a shooter follows its earlier, unsuccessful attempt with StarCraft: Ghost. The company has now committed to a title that shares the franchise's name and setting but changes its genre. Further details about the game were not disclosed at the event.
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