Blizzard Revisits the Starcraft Universe
05.05.07 - 12:50pm
Finals are over! Now I just need the weather to cooperate and I’ll be able to completely enjoy the following week of break I have between classes. In my absence a lot of things have come about or I have just noticed them. Most noticeably was the flurry of rumors about Blizzard going back to the Starcraft game series. Starcraft which originally launched in 1998 in the United States is still pulling a strong crowd, especially in South Korea where competitive Starcraft players play online in televised matches for sponsorships.
There were rumors flying around that the new Starcraft game would be either a real-time strategy or massively multiplayer online role playing game but today all rumors were put to rest with the confirmation that it’ll be an MMORPG. Blizzard’s own World of Warcraft, one of the most successful MMORPGs, will form a direct competition with this future MMORPG. Hopefully Blizzard can maintain two programs within the same genre and not try to twist them together, I’d hate to see a SC game be neglected due to management wanting to push WoW.
There aren’t many details available right now and frankly I’m intrigued as to how they are going to make a MMORPG from the Starcraft universe. Combat will be especially interesting with the myriad of strange units within Starcraft, will players get to control lurkers and burrow underground? Will players get to controls Ghosts and launch nuke strikes against others? There are just so many questions, hopefully Blizzard will make things more clear on May 19th during the Blizzard World Wide Invitational during which they are supposed to announce this new title. Hopefully these rumors pan out, I’ve been waiting for someone non-Warcraft from Blizzard for a long time. Now who wants to see a Diablo-based MMORPG over a Starcraft-based MMORPG? Guess we’ll have to take what we can get.
Relevant Links
Source, ComputerandVideogames.com
Blizzard Entertainment listing for Next-Gen MMORPG Lead Engine Programmer
Personally, I wish they would just do a strategy game in the fashion of the original StarCraft. I think there are more than enough MMORPG’s out there (LoTR, WoW, The Matrix Online, etc.). And the reason why I like SC so much is because it’s a strategy game, and it’s one of the best.
There’s a project (URL is escaping me ATM) that is working on porting StarCraft to the WarCraft III engine. The screenshots look promising, but the project’s far from even releasing a beta.
Am I missing something? How is it official if there hasn’t been an official announcment?
Well so far all evidence points towards a Starcraft MMORPG. I lost the link that showed some 3D artwork for a Starcraft 3D game, then Blizzard on a small hiring spree looking for MMORPG-related staff, it all points to a SC-based MMORPG. Perhaps I’m hyping it up a bit to much but I want to believe that Blizzard is moving in another direction that pushing their Warcraft genre. Just found a game that might satisfy my Diablo desires with the game Hellgate: London. May 19th won’t be too far away, something big is happening though.
Your article says “but today all rumors were put to rest with the confirmation that it’ll be an MMORPG.”
and yet your linked source for this confirms only one thing: this is still more rumors.
I mean, I want nothing more than a new RTS Starcraft game (and for all the Warcraft people to leave me alone about it) but it’s like saying an apple rumor is official.
I argued with my friend KW about this for about an hour yesterday. It can’t be official if they haven’t made an announcement. The “announcement about an secret announcement” bullshit is starting to piss me off. Not just Blizzard too. Why won’t they just announce whatever they have on the day they’re prepared to say it? Clever marketing? Maybe the first one.
It’s like having meetings about meetings.
I’m sure there will be something new, big and exciting announced on May 19th.
It seems to be the new style of marketing, you leak a little bit of information, the world gets in an uproar, and then you capitalize upon this hype with an announcement followed by a product launch. I have my fingers crossed on this one that it’s an RTS but the little bit in me that understands marketing believes it’ll end up being an MMORPG as Blizzard will make a larger profit than with a one-time release non-recurring cash cow that SC2 could be. No matter what though, there still is a chance that whatever Blizzard chooses to pursue that it’ll rock. RTS would rock, but a well done MMORPG will still rock. May 19th can’t get here any quicker.
Chris, shut the fuck up if you don’t know what you’re talking about. How about all the RTS people Blizzard hired last summer? Secondly (and here’s where your ignorance shines) you apparently have no idea about the development process. If Blizzard was just now looking for someone to start on the engine for the game they wouldn’t be announcing it so soon. When is the last time Blizzard announced a game without screens? Jesus bloggers piss me off.
I should just delete this comment but I feel like feeding the trolls today. Thanks for leaving your IP, dick. Next time I’m in Canada I’ll pay a visit. Rather than slam the post how about try and add to it and/or correct me? Jesus, idiots piss me off.
Nice going Chris, resorting to violent threats is a really mature thing to do. You both make good points, but instead of going blue in the face trying to figure out what Blizzard will release this time round, why not put your money where your egos are. Bet on it! My money is on a Star Craft 2 RTS. In my very amateur opinion, if Blizzard were to release another MMO, that would be cutting their nose to spite their face. Also, Diablo 3 is (again IMO) very unlikely as the vast majority of the Diablo 2 team had left Blizzard long ago, but even more importantly, the Diablo storyline can’t really continue in canon as it is now.
So, if the new game is in fact part of Blizzard previous franchises, I would go with StarCraft 2, otherwise its a brand new franchise. We’ll see tomorrow! Take care lads
Should have worded that differently but the point being is the anonymous nature of his comment along with the purpose of his comment demanded no respect. To hide behind the Internet and post comments such as his/hers is downright cowardly. This issue goes along with the huge discussion occurring over the Internet over bloggers right’s to moderate comments and guests rights in posting comments.
I’d personally take a Diablo 3 over any other current Blizzard franchise but I agree, that’s next to impossible as the team moved on to Hellgate: London. The Warcraft franchise had better not be an option as it was all downhill after WC2 IMO. Starcraft honestly has the biggest draw and potential to make a boatload of money very quickly. Nearly a decade later and there are still hundreds of thousands of players goes to show that there is a dedicated following. I’d like to see an RTS over an MMO but MMOs seem to be getting all the attention lately asides from a select few RTS’. One more day and we find out, I’m looking forward to this announcement more than the arrival of the $266 Q6600 from Intel ><
Looks like I strike again, my skill at predicting upcoming games is only surpassed by my humble modesty (ha!)
It’s not much of an achievement though, as there were so many signs of the Star Craft 2 announcement. Either way, I think this is good news for gamers in general, as this hopefully will stem the MMO overflow. Game developers always keep an eye on Blizzard when deciding what to develop next. Expect a barrage of RTS’s to hit the shelves in a year and a half :P
Also Chris, I appreciate you using your real name when blogging, my decision not to use mine isn’t so I can hide and act the fool, I act no differently online (well, obviously there are some exceptions, but I think you get my point) than I do in the “real world”. I have honour and integrity in my daily proceedings and I see no reason to leave those behind when I log on, irrespective of whether I use my name or not. At the same time, though I think “anon” berated you was slightly excessive, I am glad that there is a way that everyone can say what they feel. I worked in a very freedom restricted country for a couple of months and all I can say is that we all take freedom of speech and expression for granted. I get just as angry as you when people insult my intelligence or opinion, but in the end, is it not your personal pride that has taken the blow and not your argument?
We need more honour and less pride, but the line between them is fine indeed. Anyhow, that’s just my opinion and I am oh so happy that I can express it ;)
All the best to you all