StarCraft's Third Shot: Inside Blizzard and Nexon's Reported Shooter Revival

Two decades after the cancellation of StarCraft: Ghost, Blizzard Entertainment may be ready to try again. New reports point to a partnership with Korean gaming giant Nexon for a third attempt at a StarCraft shooter. For over twenty years, the specter of Ghost has haunted the beloved franchise, representing its greatest "what if." This potential alliance, coupled with a uniquely qualified team, offers a new, credible glimpse at a dream deferred for a generation of fans.

The Reported Deal: Blizzard, Nexon, and a New Alliance

The core of this story originates from Korean media outlet dnews, which reported in early 2025 that Blizzard Entertainment signed a cooperation contract with Nexon. The subject is a new shooter set in the StarCraft universe.

Nexon is a significant partner. As a South Korean gaming giant with massive hits like MapleStory and KartRider, it brings immense regional market expertise and operational scale. Crucially, the project is reportedly being developed within Nexon's shooting game division, known as the "Shooter Headquarters." This dedicated division lends credibility to the endeavor, suggesting the game is in the hands of specialists rather than being a side project.

It is vital to temper expectations with the reported status. The project is described as being in an early stage, undergoing prototype development and business feasibility reviews. As with any project at this phase, there is no guarantee it will proceed to full production. Nexon has not officially confirmed the project's existence, placing this firmly in the realm of credible rumor rather than announced fact. However, the specificity of the details points to a tangible, ongoing exploration.

The Team Behind the Vision: From Far Cry to Temple Siege

If the partnership provides the infrastructure, the reported team provides the vision—and it’s a fascinating blend of AAA pedigree and grassroots passion.

Reportedly helming the project is Dan Hay. His hiring by Blizzard in 2022 was a major industry signal. As the former Executive Producer on Ubisoft’s Far Cry series, Hay brings a deep, proven understanding of crafting expansive, immersive shooter worlds. His leadership suggests Blizzard is serious about building a shooter with narrative depth and open-ended gameplay, hallmarks of his previous work.

Perhaps even more intriguing is the reported involvement of Choi Jun-ho, hired as the project’s Planning Lead. Choi is a legend within the StarCraft community, famed as the creator of the iconic "Temple Siege" custom map. His journey from celebrated modder to a lead position on an official Blizzard project represents a direct pipeline from fan passion and intimate knowledge of what makes StarCraft gameplay compelling to official development. This blend—Hay’s AAA shooter expertise and Choi’s deep, systemic understanding of StarCraft—could be the crucial combination that has eluded previous attempts.

What We Think We Know: Genre, Style, and Potential

While details are scarce, consistent threads have emerged from the reporting. Multiple sources indicate the project is a third-person shooter. This perspective shift from the first-person rumors of old is significant. A third-person view could allow players to better appreciate the scale of the universe—seeing their Marine in full armor, witnessing a Zerg Hydralisk loom overhead, or commanding a Protoss Zealot from a cinematic vantage point.

Early visual targets have been described with comparisons made to Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine. This suggests a game aiming for a gritty, weighty, and visually spectacular portrayal of infantry combat within a sci-fi war setting, a tonal fit for the StarCraft universe.

The rumor mill also points to a potential reveal horizon. Journalist Jez Corden of Windows Central and others have speculated that an official announcement is likely targeting BlizzCon 2026. This aligns with Blizzard’s own teaser for the September 2026 event, which prominently featured StarCraft characters, stoking fan anticipation for a major franchise revival.

Learning from Ghosts: The Weight of History and a New Approach

To understand the potential significance of this report, one must acknowledge the heavy legacy it carries. This would be Blizzard’s third known attempt to develop a StarCraft shooter.

The first, StarCraft: Ghost (announced in 2002), achieved mythic status after its prolonged development and eventual cancellation. The second, an internal project codenamed Ares, was canceled in 2019 and described by sources as "like Battlefield in the StarCraft universe." These failures represent hard lessons in scope, technological challenges, and the immense difficulty of translating an RTS’s macro-scale warfare into a compelling infantry-level shooter.

The reported Nexon partnership appears designed to address these historical pitfalls directly. Outsourcing development to a dedicated shooter studio could allow Blizzard to manage scope and mitigate the internal resource strain that plagued previous projects. Furthermore, a focused third-person shooter may present a more manageable creative and technical target than the ambitious, large-scale vision suggested by Project Ares.

The Bigger Picture: Microsoft, Strategy, and a Two-Pronged Future

These shooter rumors exist within a broader, rejuvenating landscape for StarCraft under Microsoft’s ownership. It is crucial to separate the threads: the Nexon project is specifically a shooter.

Simultaneously, as reported by Jez Corden and others, Microsoft is considering reviving the StarCraft franchise as a core real-time strategy (RTS) game. Microsoft’s stewardship of Xbox has included a noted commitment to reviving classic IPs, as seen with the successful return of Age of Empires. This context adds credibility to the notion of a parallel RTS revival.

This suggests a potential two-pronged future for the Koprulu Sector: a Nexon-developed shooter expanding the universe into a new genre, and a Microsoft-shepherded revival of the foundational RTS that started it all. For fans, this represents the most coherent and hopeful outlook in years—the possibility of a full franchise renaissance built on distinct, focused projects.

The reported Blizzard-Nexon shooter exists in a fragile space between rumor and reality, still informed by the ghosts of projects past. Yet, the specifics of this alliance—a dedicated shooter studio partnered with a publisher ready to try again, led by a team combining AAA savvy with fan-centric passion—make this the most credible attempt to date. The long-held dream of a StarCraft shooter no longer feels like a relic but a tangible project being quietly assembled. All eyes now turn to the future, with BlizzCon 2026 looming as the potential stage where this twenty-year journey could finally find its footing.

Tags: StarCraft, Blizzard Entertainment, Nexon, Third-Person Shooter, BlizzCon, Rumor, Report