I can't be the only one wondering: why?
In late March the news broke that four Korean companies were competing to pitch for the StarCraft license from Blizzard. NCSoft, Nexon, Netmarble, and Krafton are all absolute giants and, attracted by StarCraft’s long and storied history in South Korea, were pitching everything from an MMO to a mobile game as a continuation of the iconic RTS series.
South Korean financial news outlet MTN is now reporting that the process has ended with Nexon winning the license. Nexon’s pitch was previously described as a “unique” take on the StarCraft universe, and the MTN report adds that the deal includes the Korean and Japanese distribution rights for “Overwatch mobile.”
This Overwatch game is being developed by Blizzard and, per a machine translation, “is known to be a MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) game on a mobile platform. It was also called ‘Overwatch 3’ by domestic game companies that participated in the bidding.”
Wait, come back! I suppose with Overwatch Mobile the surprise is that it’s taken Blizzard this long, and regardless of how it’s being referred to internally I very much doubt it will release as Overwatch 3. As for StarCraft, there are no details on Nexon’s intentions, but the fact that something might actually get made again in the StarCraft series has to be a good thing: the big question is whether it’ll be an RTS, or even reflect those roots in a meaningful way.
Either way, it will be many years before we see what comes of this, but StarCraft is more well-known and beloved in South Korea than anywhere else in the world, and Nexon will see this as a massive opportunity in its home market.
It’s not the only StarCraft project in the offing either. Last year we learned that Blizzard does have at least one more StarCraft project under development in-house that’s—drum roll please—the studio’s third attempt at making a shooter (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.”
Things like StarCraft: Remastered and Hearthstone crossovers are nice, but it’s been 15 years since Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty and 10 since the final installment in the trilogy, StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void. A series as big as StarCraft can certainly survive a long period of absence, but the bigger worry for fans will be whether its future involves a strategy title of some description. Shooters and spinoffs are all well and good, but they’re not StarCraft: let’s hope that, somewhere in Nexon, the decision-makers agree.
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