The StarCraft license may be emerging from its long slumber. According to several sources from South Korea, four major Korean studios are currently competing for the rights to develop a new game based on Blizzard's cult universe. And this time, we're not talking about a simple mobile project or a discreet remake: the stakes are much higher.
Who wants to make the next StarCraft?
According to information from the Asia Today website, NCSoft, Nexon, Netmarble, and Krafton are actively competing for the future of StarCraft. These Korean industry giants have even reportedly presented their proposals directly to Blizzard headquarters in the United States. The goal: to secure the rights to develop one or more new games, but also to publish them on a global scale.
Each studio in the running has its own vision for the future of StarCraft. NCSoft, an MMORPG expert, would like to remain faithful to the universe by offering an online experience rooted in the lore of the saga. Nexon, for its part, intends to play the originality card with a multi-genre approach, drawing on its expertise in varied and accessible games. Netmarble, very active on mobile, is considering an adaptation designed for the general public, but without neglecting the depth of the gameplay. Finally, Krafton, carried by the global success of PUBG, seems to want to bet on a more nervous action game, probably multiplayer oriented.
An increasingly widespread strategy
This type of partnership is nothing unusual, even for Starcraft. More and more publishers prefer to entrust their licenses to external studios to diversify their projects. This is what Sega is doing with Sonic, or Games Workshop with Warhammer 40K.
Blizzard, for its part, no longer really has a team dedicated to StarCraft internally. Its resources are already mobilized on Overwatch 2, WoW, Hearthstone or Diablo 4. Outsourcing could therefore allow relaunching the franchise faster, without waiting five or six years for 100% in-house production.
Source: asiatoday
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