Blizzard is reportedly 'incubating' a StarCraft shooter again, which would be the developer's 3rd attempt at the accursed concept

Starcraft's Nova in Heroes of the Storm
(Image credit: Blizzard)

Blizzard is reportedly making a shooter in the StarCraft universe again—no, not StarCraft Ghost, which was cancelled in 2014. It's also not Ares, which was, according to sources who spoke to Kotaku back in 2019, also canned. This one's a third, secret thing.

Speaking with IGN's unlocked podcast, Jason Schreier, a writer for Bloomberg and soon-to-be author of a book on Blizzard's company culture called "Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment", shared a sneak peek at some of the info covered within.

Asking Schreier about an excerpt towards the end of the book, where it's claimed that while most of the developers on Blizzard's cancelled survival game were laid off, Dan Hay, who previously worked on the Far Cry series (eventually becoming an executive producer for multiple games) is now working with Blizzard on the aforementioned project. Hay joined Blizzard back in 2022.

"Most of the developers were laid off, while a few would remain with Hay to begin incubating, of all things, a new StarCraft shooter … Perhaps after Ghost and Ares, the third time would be the charm."

Schreier clarifies, citing Blizzard's clearly-cursed experience with the meeting of StarCraft and the shooter genre: "If it's not cancelled, I mean, this is Blizzard after all … Yes, that is a project that, as far as I knew, was in development. At least, as of the time that I wrote this book."

To carbon-date it, Schreier announced Play Nice February 5 this year. The mentioned survival game was also dropped back in January among a dire flood of layoffs post-Microsoft acquisition, so I think it's safe to say this information isn't too outdated: "I suspect that this one will make a lot of headlines, I had a feeling that it would." Well, he's got me there—but I'm not sure I can be blamed.

Blizzard's weird triplet of failed attempts to get this running is fascinating to watch, especially considering how far along these former prototypes were. StarCraft Ghost had a full gameplay trailer, which you can watch below—meanwhile, Kotaku's sources told the publication that Ares was "looking quite good" and that its cancellation came as a "massive shock".

In other words, if this new, mysterious, third project also gets cancelled some ways down the line, it'll be the third time Blizzard as a company has run up to the edge of a StarCraft shooter, gotten all chicken about it, and ran in the other direction.

Mind, this new mystery project probably isn't all that far along. Considering "incubating" is the phrase Schreier used, and that he apparently received this information not long after the acquisition, we'll likely not be getting a third condename to whisper as legend. I, for one, am very excited to see leaked screenshots surface in 2034, five years after this project gets cancelled in 2029, if patterns hold.

Harvey Randall
Staff Writer

Harvey's history with games started when he first begged his parents for a World of Warcraft subscription aged 12, though he's since been cursed with Final Fantasy 14-brain and a huge crush on G'raha Tia. He made his start as a freelancer, writing for websites like Techradar, The Escapist, Dicebreaker, The Gamer, Into the Spine—and of course, PC Gamer. He'll sink his teeth into anything that looks interesting, though he has a soft spot for RPGs, soulslikes, roguelikes, deckbuilders, MMOs, and weird indie titles. He also plays a shelf load of TTRPGs in his offline time. Don't ask him what his favourite system is, he has too many.

Read more
Three cloaked videogame dudes with glowing gems in the middle of their chest, heading out to the rave
9 years after launching his own studio, former World of Warcraft lead designer Rob Pardo finally reveals what he's doing with it
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Battlefield: Bad Company 2's director had big plans for a third entry in the series, with your squad reuniting for an impossible mission amid a war between Russia and the US over Alaska
Jar of Sparks website background image - three rocket-like things launching from a planet, I think
NetEase pulls funding for another studio: Former Halo Infinite design head says Jar of Sparks is 'halting work' while it looks for a new publisher
Best Free Steam Games - Marvel Rivals - Black Widow aims down a sniper scope.
'The market is large enough to accommodate both games': NetEase is confident it can make space for Marvel Rivals and Overwatch 2
overwatch 2 season 15 cosmetics
Overwatch 2 is getting radical changes that might finally help that '2' make sense, starting with a third-person mode and over 160 hero perks
Storm trooper hero
Another live service shooter is getting shut down, this time before it even launched on Steam
Latest in Action
Monster Hunter Wilds' stockpile master studying a manifest
Monster Hunter Wilds' new gyro controls are a fantastic option for disabled and able-bodied players alike
Manhunt 2
I played the notoriously ratings-board-ravaged Manhunt 2 and was quite glad for the censorship actually
Commander Shepard in Mass Effect 3.
Mass Effect's Jennifer Hale, who played femshep, 'saw no line' before she recorded them for Bioware's flagship trilogy: 'It was all cold reading on the spot'
A hunter hefts a massive Mega Barrel Bomb in Monster Hunter Wilds.
Monster Hunter Wilds players can't stop blowing themselves to smithereens with its rollable barrel bombs
A hunter poses with a large hammer as their palico cheers nearby in Monster Hunter Wilds.
Monster Hunter Wilds weapon tier list
Naoe looking at the wrist blade in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Ubisoft backflips, says Assassin's Creed Shadows will support Steam Deck at launch, but I doubt I'll actually want to play it there
Latest in News
A woman with an arcane slingshot uses it to light a distant fire
Deconstructeam's next game is about training to shoot a single fireball at an impossible target
assassin's creed shadow naoe
We asked two parkour athletes to rate the realism of Assassin's Creed's acrobatics, and a surprising 'crime against parkour' might actually be one of the most realistic things they saw
Mechs fight on the outside of a spaceship
MechWarrior 5: Clans is getting DLC with playable Elementals and a fight on the outside of a spaceship
Aloy - Horizon
'I feel worried about this art form:' Unsurprisingly, the real Aloy from Horizon isn't a fan of AI Aloy
Crying laughing emoji with disturbing realistic elements for REPO
REPO's first update will add a new map and a 'duck bucket' so we can finally give that pesky quacker a time out
Man facing camera
The Day Before studio reportedly sues Russian website for calling infamous disaster-game a 'scam'