The idea of a Blizzard-made, StarCraft-focused shooter has been floating around since the first announcement of StarCraft: Ghost in 2002, but the project’s subsequent closure seemed to firmly close the coffin. When Blizzard shut down their next attempt in 2019 to focus on Overwatch 2, fans all but gave up — but an IGN interview with Jason Schreier has caused that ember of hope to flare once again. Third time’s the charm?
In the interview, Schreier says, “StarCraft is not dead at Blizzard.” He mentions a project focused on creating a shooter set inside the StarCraft universe, although he does point out that it could very well be canceled like the first two attempts.
Schreier gave no details about what the game might look like, when it would release, or even if it would be first- or third-person. He did say, however, that Dan Hay, director of Far Cry 5, was leading the project — and that’s good news indeed.
The first attempt was called StarCraft: Ghost and was supposed to be a third-person stealth game focusing on the Ghost unit, a type of psionic spy-commando. It was announced in 2002, put on hiatus in 2006, and after years of radio silence, Blizzard formally canceled the project in 2014. According to Schreier, the second attempt was codenamed Ares and was supposed to have Battlefield–like influences but was glossed over in favor of more popular titles.
So why is it worth getting your hopes up now? Blizzard has a lot more going for it than it has in recent years. With Microsoft’s backing, Blizzard has a source of funding. The project has an experienced director in Hay. And finally, with the single-player campaigns of both StarCraft and StarCraft 2 coming to Game Pass, it’s the perfect time for Blizzard to capitalize on the nostalgia and popularity of the franchise.
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