Blizzard has announced a new game in the StarCraft franchise, set to be an open-world shooter with a planned release in 2030. The reveal took place at BlizzCon 2026, marking a significant genre shift for the long-running real-time strategy series, the last mainline installment of which, StarCraft 2, launched over 15 years ago.
The announcement follows a period of online activity on the official StarCraft website, which featured visual glitches and displayed a "warning" message to users, hinting at an upcoming development for the franchise. Rumors of a StarCraft shooter have circulated for years, with reports from 2024 indicating Blizzard's third attempt at such a title, led by former Far Cry executive producer Dan Hay. A subsequent job posting for an "upcoming open-world shooter" further fueled speculation.
This marks Blizzard's latest endeavor to bring a StarCraft shooter to life, following two previous, ultimately canceled attempts. StarCraft Ghost, initially announced in 2002 as a tactical-action console game, was canceled in 2006 after multiple delays. A second attempt, codenamed Ares, was reportedly similar to Battlefield within the StarCraft universe but was canceled in 2019 to allow Blizzard to focus on Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2.
Blizzard has historically announced games well in advance of their release, often adhering to a philosophy of "It’ll be ready when it’s ready." The 2030 release window for this new StarCraft title aligns with this long-standing practice.