Blizzard Entertainment is in no rush to revive its sci-fi strategy series StarCraft, but behind the scenes, it appears there is a serious battle going on for the right to resurrect the franchise.
Image source: BLIZZARD ENTERTINMENT
According to the South Korean publication Asia Today, four local gaming companies are actively competing for a license from Blizzard Entertainment to develop new projects in the StarCraft universe.
Речь идёт об NCSoft (Lineage, Guild Wars), Nexon (MapleStory, The First Descendant), Netmarble (Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds, Game of Thrones: Kingsroad) and Krafton (PUBG: Battlegrounds, Enzoi).
Hoping to sway Blizzard, representatives from several of them have held presentations at the company’s California headquarters. The potential deal includes the right to create and publish StarCraft games in a variety of genres.
NCSoft is hoping to make a StarCraft RPG, Nexon has pitched Blizzard a “unique” take on the franchise, Netmarble a mobile game, and Krafton a project “within its development capabilities.”
Today, March 31st, the original StarCraft turns 27 years old.
It is worth noting that last fall Blizzard itself was recruiting employees to create an open-world shooter. The game will have to “surprise, delight and be remembered.” We are talking about a AAA-level project.
A few weeks earlier, Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier reported that a StarCraft-based shooter was in the incubation stage at Blizzard, with former Far Cry executive producer Dan Hay at the helm.