Blizzard Announces StarCraft Shooter From Far Cry Veteran: Open World, 2030 Release
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12.09.2026 21:10
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2 min read
Blizzard Entertainment has officially brought back its cult sci-fi universe StarCraft at BlizzCon 2026. Contrary to what fans of the classic real-time strategy games expected, the new entry in the series will be a story-driven open-world shooter. It is scheduled to launch in 2030, meaning active development will continue for about four more years.
A Far Cry Veteran at the Helm and the First Details
The opening ceremony featured a debut cinematic teaser, but the developers are saving an actual gameplay demo for later. Development is led by Dan Hay, a former creative director on the Far Cry series at Ubisoft who oversaw the shooters from the third through sixth installments and joined the American studio in 2022.
The game’s development stopped being a secret long before the official announcement. Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier reported that after the ambitious survival simulator Project Odyssey was shut down, Hay’s team was moved to building an action game set in the universe of the Terrans, Protoss and Zerg.
Later, reporter Jez Corden shared his impressions of early work-in-progress builds in Windows Central: according to him, the game is built around heavy combat between Terran marines and a Zerg swarm, combining Space Marine 2-style cinematic action with the freedom to explore large outposts in the vein of Far Cry.
Breaking the Curse of StarCraft: Ghost and Ares
For Blizzard, the project marks its third attempt to release a full-fledged shooter set in the Koprulu sector.
As PC Gamer recalls, the two previous efforts ended in cancellation:
- In the mid-2000s, the company canceled the spy stealth action game StarCraft: Ghost, centered on the ghost Nova;
- In 2019, the studio scrapped a project codenamed Ares, a multiplayer shooter in the style of Battlefield, and redirected its resources to rescuing Diablo IV and developing Overwatch 2.
First trailer for the new STARCRAFT open-world shooter game
— PhoenixNexus (@Phoenix8Nexus) September 12, 2026
Releasing in 2030
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According to PC Gamer’s live coverage of the BlizzCon opening, the studio under Microsoft’s wing hopes to relaunch the brand in a more popular genre for console audiences, turning the open world of StarCraft into a big-budget long-term project by the start of the next decade.
