StarCraft Might Be Coming Back As A Shooter, And I Don’t Know How To Feel

Launching in 1998, StarCraft quickly became a foundational success for Blizzard. While other franchises tied to the publisher, like Warcraft, Diablo, and Overwatch, have been successful in their own right, StarCraft has left a uniquely massive shadow on the real-time-strategy genre and gaming culture as a whole. Part of that is because Blizzard has been judicious with how they release the series, with only a handful of actual titles ever seeing the light of day.

That might change soon, though, thanks to a new collaboration between Nexon and Blizzard that is reportedly set to bring StarCraft into the shooter space. On the other hand, that’s an exciting development for fans eager to return to the sci-fi setting. However, there’s going to be a lot of pressure on the game, and I don’t know if I want the companies risking the sense of closure that the series achieved in 2015.

The Studio Behind Arc Raiders Might Be Turning StarCraft Into A Shooter

Game publisher Nexon is working in collaboration with Blizzard, with reports suggesting that the game will be a new shooter set within the StarCraft universe — and I’m not sure how I feel about it. According to reports from MTN, Nexon had secured the StarCraft license after successfully pitching ideas to Blizzard. Nexon, which owns ARC Raiders developer Embark, clearly has some real love for the franchise.

They’ve reportedly tapped StarCraft modder Choi Jun-ho to helm the project, suggesting a certain degree of fidelity to the source material. While the reports remain unconfirmed at the time of this writing, expectations suggest that the game could be formally announced at BlizzCon 2026. A shooter set in the StarCraft universe has been considered before, most famously with StarCraft: Ghost, which never made it past the demo stage.

The StarCraft Universe Is Ripe For Further Exploration

There are lots of questions to raise about a potential StarCraft shooter. While Nexon clearly has experience with the genre — and the success of Embark’s ARC Raiders highlights how the company can appease fans with a fresh take on an established style of game — a new StarCraft game is going to come with a massive amount of expectations. The strategy game series focuses on the conflict between three distinct races: the Earthborn humans known as Terrans, the parasitic hivemind dubbed the Zerg, and the ancient psychic aliens called the Protoss.

A shooter set in the universe would likely focus on a Terran, with the different types of units in the franchise making for a natural shift to differing styles of shooter gameplay. The massive scale of the setting is a natural fit for a shooter, with the various worlds and alien races providing new locations and plenty of enemies to fill the screen with.

The different races and their own unique attributes could also allow for different play styles depending on the chosen race, potentially expanding the title into a natural multiplayer experience. Blizzard has clearly seen the potential in the genre, and the idea that they approved of Nexus’ pitch suggests that they have confidence in the story that the developers want to tell. As a lifelong StarCraft fan, it’s easy to see the appeal of the project and get excited.

I Hope The Next StarCraft Game Doesn’t Ruin The Series’ Terrific Ending

However, the legacy of StarCraft is a unique one in gaming. The strategy remains a perennial title in the world of competitive gaming, speaking to the truly massive fanbase that the games have. A failure to properly adapt the series to an entirely different genre could frustrate fans, especially those who have been waiting for more additions to the game since the DLC StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops missions launched a decade ago. There’s also the matter of the new game’s placement in the established canon. StarCraft II finished on a high note with StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void, concluding the conflict between the three races by uniting them against a common foe.

The ending was a great capstone for many of the franchise’s most important characters, genuinely giving the series a proper ending in a medium that so rarely gets to reach that point. A sequel to those games would have to pick up those threads and do something new with them, all while avoiding messing with the established canon. It would also mean that many of the game’s fan-favorite characters wouldn’t be available, given their respective fates at the end of the game. It’s possible that a full spin-off could introduce a new corner of the universe, or that the game could take place during the established series and offer a new perspective on the canon timeline. While I can see the appeal of a new StarCraft game, I’m worried that it might mess with a finale that I still hold up as one of the best endings in gaming.