Blizzard Entertainment announced a brand-new game in the StarCraft universe during BlizzCon 2026. Titled simply StarCraft, the open-world sci-fi shooter is led by former Far Cry boss Dan Hay and is scheduled for a 2030 release, marking the franchise’s first mainline entry in over a decade.
More than 15 years after StarCraft 2 arrived on PC, Blizzard is steering its sci-fi franchise into entirely new territory. The announcement came down on Saturday during the opening ceremony of BlizzCon 2026 at the Anaheim Convention Center in California, marking the first time the fan-festival event has been hosted since 2023.
While the project is technically the next mainline installment following StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void—which debuted in 2015—the developer is dropping the numeric title in favor of a clean slate. The original real-time strategy milestone launched in 1998, establishing a rich interstellar lore that developers are now adapting into an interactive shooter format. Per Blizzard Entertainment, the new game is set in the Koprulu Sector, 70 years after StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void.
Dan Hay Leads Development on an Open-World Shooter
The upcoming project abandons the traditional overhead RTS perspective that defined the series for decades. Instead, leadership under former Far Cry executive producer Dan Hay—who joined Blizzard in 2022—is building an experience grounded directly on the battlefield. Previous reports claimed that Nexon was seeking the StarCraft IP license, but now it’s been officially revealed at BlizzCon 2026 at the Anaheim Convention Center in California.
[Our] team [was] built with one purpose and one goal, to return to a universe forged in interstellar war,
Hay said at BlizzCon. This is something new: an open-world shooter where every step is earned. Not from above, but down on the ground, in the mud, in the fire.
Dan Hay, Vice President
Hay said the game would honor StarCraft’s past, but with an opportunity to push beyond it.
Blizzard revealed a new StarCraft trailer for the upcoming game, which featured a montage of Terran Dominion recruits training for war and fighting the Swarm. The character featured in the trailer is named Holt, and we see the entirety of it through his point of view. The official narrative description accompanying the reveal highlights the stakes for humanity’s frontline forces: The sons and daughters of the Dominion answered the call when mankind needed them most. Their courage held the line. Their sacrifice bought us another day. Now the call comes to you. Carry their strength forward. No matter the cost.
A Long Road of Revived Projects and Canceled Attempts
Blizzard has attempted to create a StarCraft shooter twice in the past, with projects codenamed Ghost and Ares, but both were canceled. Discussing the unannounced project last year, Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier said in his book Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment: Yes, that is a project that, as far as I know, is in development, or at least as of the time I wrote this book it was in development. Which is [to say] yes, they are working on a StarCraft shooter, StarCraft is not dead at Blizzard.
He added: This felt like such an interesting and us…
In 2024, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier told IGN’s Podcast Unlocked about Blizzard’s third attempt at developing a StarCraft shooter with former Far Cry executive producer Dan Hay, who joined Blizzard in 2022, leading the charge. Then, later in 2024, a job posting was listed for an ‘upcoming open-world shooter’ that fans were certain was tied to this StarCraft game.
The announcement of a new StarCraft game was expected at BlizzCon, after the official StarCraft website became rife with visual ‘glitches,’ and issued a ‘warning’ telling users their device has been “compromised.” Fans took this to mean that a big update for the franchise was on the horizon, and they were right.
Timeline and the Road to 2030
With an official target release year of 2030, the project sits far on the horizon. While this distant launch window makes it hard to get too excited about StarCraft just yet, Blizzard has a history of announcing games far before they’re ready for the public to play. In fact, it’s something the company behind Warcraft, Diablo, and Overwatch is notorious for doing, historically touting the mantra: It’ll be ready when it’s ready.
Per Blizzard Entertainment, This is just the beginning. Led by Dan Hay, 'StarCraft' is early in development, and we'll have more to share over the coming years, including gameplay reveals, deep dives into the world, and more.
Also revealed at the BlizzCon opening ceremony was an animated TV series adaptation of Blizzard Entertainment’s popular “Diablo” video game franchise, which is currently in development at Netflix, alongside Diablo 5 for the series’ 30th anniversary.
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