StarCraft is a legend. It’s a name that might not have been on everyone’s tongue lately, but it remains one of the most iconic and influential figures in gaming. Without it, the entirety of the esports industry wouldn’t exist. At least, not how it is. Suffice to say that it holds a special place in the hearts of many gamers, especially those who grew up during the LAN cafe days of gaming, where the go-to titles where either shooters like DOOM, Quake, Wolfenstein, and Counter-Strike or Real-Time Strategy games like, you guessed it, StarCraft and its close brethren, WarCraft. Unfortunately, while WarCraft remains at the forefront of gaming, thanks mostly to the (admittedly dwindling) popularity of World of Warcraft, StarCraft has been left sitting on the shelves for quite some time, with Blizzard Entertainment content with dropping the occasional new map.
However, many, many, many eons after RTS fans got a sizable update about anything related to StarCraft, one insider in the know claims that StarCraft 3 is currently in development.
Earlier this week, journalist Jez Corden, known for his accurate leaks concerning gaming industry news, seemed to confirm the whispers swirling around StarCraft 3’s development. In a short but succinct Twitter exchange, the words “StarCraft 3” and “Yep” intersected, triggering waves of excitement among fans and opening up endless conjecture about the nature of this possible sequel.
This seemed to slip by this subreddit, but Jez Corden implies (or rather straight up claims) StarCraft 3 is in development.
byu/SharkyIzrod inGamingLeaksAndRumours
Unfortunately, the tweets have since been deleted, which is either Corden’s way of doing damage control to avoid possible repercussions for breaking NDA or he simply doesn’t want to deal with the questions that will undoubtedly come after such a big reveal.
You can’t exactly blame StarCraft fans for jumping on the Arkship as soon as the news broke out. Keep in mind, StarCraft 2, the long-awaited sequel to the original title, came out 13 years ago in 2010. The engaging real-time strategy title came out to universal acclaim, receiving two story-based expansions in 2013 and 2015 before an out-of-left-field single-player post-launch campaign centered around the adventures of a certain rogue Ghost in 2016 and a remaster of the original 1998 title a year after in 2017.
Since then, Blizzard has chosen to work on other projects, much to the disappointment of the franchise’s still-loyal fans.
Between Overwatch 2, Diablo 4, and World of Warcraft, as well as World of Warcraft: Classic, and a still-unnamed survival game, among others, Blizzard has an enviable problem: it’s working on too many projects at the same time, the majority of which are proven moneymakers.
With the RTS genre no longer the buzzword on the internet, Blizzard has little incentive to work on StarCraft 3.
Nonetheless, the prospect of a new chapter in the StarCraft series is both exciting and timely, given Blizzard’s success with Diablo 4. Despite the relative stagnation in the series following Diablo 3 in 2012, Diablo 4 has been a shining beacon for the company, with sales exceeding $666 million within five days post-launch.
Blizzard could see this as a sign that it can still revive StarCraft and the new entry be met with similarly open arms when it finally hits the storeshelves.
Of course, for that to happen, Blizzard has to reveal StarCraft 3 first, which doesn’t seem likely. There’s an evident absence of promotional materials related to the franchise in the lead-up to this year’s BlizzCon, thus suggesting that a new StarCraft game may not be in the offing anytime soon. Additionally, Activision Blizzard’s corporate situation muddies the waters even further. Given Microsoft’s pending acquisition of Activision Blizzard, any greenlight for StarCraft 3 would remain speculative until the deal is finalized. The situation is further complicated by the departure of several Blizzard employees, who left to establish Frost Giant Studios and work on their new RTS game, STORMGATE.
You don’t just fire your A team and round up new recruits to work on a new installment to one of gaming’s best franchises. But, then again, Blizzard’s never been one to follow the norm.
Like Diablo, StarCraft may have been lying dormant, not dead. The series could be following a pattern similar to Diablo 4, surfacing after a period of relative silence. After all, the foundation of StarCraft’s competitive depth and replayability is still strong, and thousands of gamers still enthusiastically engage with StarCraft 2 today.
Ultimately, until we get an official confirmation, all we can do is to speculate. Is StarCraft 3 going to be a traditional AAA RTS? If not, how would Blizzard update the “older” mechanics to modernize StarCraft without making long-time fans angry? Or, maybe, Nova Covert Ops was successful enough to convince Blizzard to release a full-fledged spin-off, complete with a genre shift?
Regardless of what StarCraft 3 turns out to be, one thing is certain: the announcement of a new StarCraft game would be a great highlight for BlizzCon, even if it doesn’t happen at this year’s convention.
