Franchise StarCraft May return to the competition stage in very unexpected circumstances. According to new reports from South Korea, Nexon is in talks with Blizzard Entertainment to acquire the rights to develop future projects in the legendary space strategy universe. If the two sides do reach an agreement, the creation of the next game in the series may be handled by a third-party studio for the first time.
For StarCraft, this development is particularly noteworthy. After completing the main storyline StarCraft2 The series was actually on a long hiatus. Over the years, Blizzard hasn’t come up with a full continuation of the strategy, despite frequent requests from fans. Meanwhile, the universe itself continues to be wildly popular, especially in South Korea, where the original StarCraft remains an important part of computer club culture nearly 30 years after its release.
According to Korean media reports North Korea, Nexon and Blizzard They are currently discussing a deal that would allow the company to acquire the rights to create new content based on StarCraft. One of the sources said talks are at a fairly advanced stage and could include developing a sequel to an existing series.
Naturally, such news immediately sparked concerns about StarCraft 3. However, Blizzard has not yet officially announced a game of the same name. And it’s not even known whether future projects will be classic real-time strategy.
This type remains one of the major problems. In recent years, there have been persistent rumors that Blizzard is considering returning to StarCraft in a completely different form. There’s even a third-person shooter among the proposed projects. Therefore, transferring some power to Nexon does not mean the automatic emergence of traditional RTS.
One more important detail: a collaboration between the two companies already exists. In 2026, Blizzard and Nexon announced a partnership, and Nexon will have the opportunity to engage in publishing activities and operational support for the PC version. special attack in South Korea. Granted, the scope of the current negotiations is likely to be much larger, as we’re not just talking about the release of a finished game, but Nexon’s direct involvement in the creation of new projects.
However, information about the deal remains conflicting. Some sources said the two sides were close to a deal, while other South Korean media reported only ongoing discussions. In particular, it remains to be determined exactly who will be responsible for development, how power will be distributed between the companies, and what publishing model future games will use.
If a deal does come to fruition, it would be a rather unusual step for Blizzard. The company has historically preferred to keep key franchises in-house, so adding a third-party developer to StarCraft could signal a desire to return the series to active development without the full burden of an in-house team.
However, this solution also has a drawback. Fans may be happy for StarCraft to return, but it’s far from certain that they’ll be equally receptive to the new format. If Nexon does pursue a continuation of the series, the developers will have a difficult task: maintaining a recognizable atmosphere of the universe while offering something new for an audience that has primarily associated StarCraft with real-time strategy games for decades.
One particularly interesting moment is the upcoming BlizzCon 2026, which will be held on September 12-13. So far, Blizzard has not confirmed that it is preparing any StarCraft announcements for the event, nor has it officially confirmed the deal with Nexon. Therefore, it’s too early to expect a reveal of StarCraft 3 in the coming days.
However, the fact that such information has emerged after years of almost complete silence seems significant. Even though negotiations are not yet complete, it does appear that Blizzard is considering options to return StarCraft to active development. And if Nexon becomes the company’s new partner, the next big journey into the Terran, Zerg, and Protoss universes may not be what fans imagine.
