Starcraft Revival in Sight: Nexon Takes Over Development

After a long break, Starcraft could soon return. Developer Nexon has prevailed against well -known competitors and can now freely decide on the genre. It is therefore not currently clear whether the new title maintains traditional strategy format.

New life for Starcraft universe

Blizzard’s legendary Starcraft franchise could soon celebrate his return. After an intensive bidding process, South Korean game developer Nexon has secured the rights to develop a new Starcraft game. At the same time, the company receives sales rights for Overwatch Mobile in Korea and Japan. Nexon prevailed against well -known Korean competitors such as NC Soft and Netmarble. The bidding process began in the fourth quarter of last year. Blizzard offered interested companies a package that included development rights for a new Starcraft game and regional sales rights for Overwatch Mobile.

It is noteworthy that Blizzard has not specified any restrictions on the genre for the new Starcraft game-Nexon is therefore free to go beyond the traditional real-time strategy format. Like the Korean intelligence service Mtn reported (via VG247), the bidding process was particularly competitive because Starcraft enjoys a special status in Korea. The game laid the foundation stone for the first large e-sports scene and is still actively played today. Even Starcraft: Brood, the classic from 1998, is still very popular in Korea.

The last major Starcraft publication was the remaster of the original game in 2017. Fans have been waiting for new content from the popular science fiction universe since then. Freedom in the genre choice could mean that Nexon chooses a completely new approach for the brand – possibly even a implementation of the once planned but never published Starcraft Action Game: Ghost. Starcraft has had an eventful story. The original appeared in 1998 and revolutionized the real -time strategy genre with its asymmetrical game design, in which three completely different breeds – Terraner, Zerg and Protoss – compete against each other.

The successor Starcraft 2 was published in three episodes: Wings of Liberty (2010), Heart of the Swarm (2013) and Legacy of the Void (2015). Since then, Blizzard has mainly focused on content updates and balance adjustments. Overwatch Mobile, which is reported internally at Blizzard as “Overwatch 3”, is a moba game (multiplayer online battle arena) for mobile platforms. Blizzard takes over the development here, while Nexon will be responsible for sales in Korea and Japan.