Highlights
- The original StarCraft and its sequel are highly regarded as some of the best RTS games ever made, but Blizzard has not done anything with the IP since.
- Fans have been eagerly awaiting a third installment of StarCraft, but Blizzard seems to have no reason to explore the franchise further.
- The RTS genre has significantly declined in popularity, and Blizzard has been making more money from other titles.
Since the release of StarCraft 2, fans of the franchise have been clamoring for Blizzard to make a third entry. The massive sci-fi universe that the studio has created has been fun to explore, the gameplay has been thrilling, and it felt like there was no stopping this juggernaut. However, there have been no new StarCraft experiences since 2016, besides a remaster in 2017. While fans may be yearning for more content, Blizzard seems to have no reason to explore the franchise further.
There are a lot of elements stacked up against a potential StarCraft 3. For starters, the RTS genre does not seem to be the behemoth it once was. Additionally, Blizzard has been making so much more money through other titles that it has no reason to devote resources to the franchise. On top of all of that, the studio's approach to gaming has changed drastically since that original game, so a hypothetical third entry may not even be what fans wanted in the first place.
StarCraft 3 Has Been Long Overdue
The StarCraft Series is Still One of the Best RTS Franchises
After all of these years, StarCraft is still considered by many to be some of the best RTS series on the market. No one really knew what to expect from that first game when it hit store shelves in 1998. While Blizzard had shown that it knew how to make an exciting RTS through Warcraft, this was the first time the studio was going to take its formula to the sci-fi genre. It seemed like a risky endeavor, and it paid off immensely. Not only did it raise the bar for RTS games, but it is still considered by some to be one of the greatest games ever made.
It seemed like Blizzard had a massive new franchise on its hands, so it got to work expanding it with DLC and a Nintendo 64 port. And after 12 years, it finally released the hotly anticipated sequel, StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty. Much like its predecessor, it was met with critical acclaim and would go on to be considered one of the greatest games ever made. It once again took the RTS genre to new heights, and its challenging gameplay loop made it a massive sensation on the eSports scene. But even with all of that, the studio has not really done anything with the IP since.
Blizzard Has No Need to Develop the Series Further
While Blizzard did release some DLCs for StarCraft 2 and a remaster of the original game in 2017, there has been no StarCraft 3 in sight. Fans yearn for a new experience at every Blizzcon, and every Blizzcon passes without even a mention of the popular franchise. It feels like the series has been shelved for the forseeable future, which is a shame. However, it really does not seem that surprising.
A couple of days ago, former Blizzard developer Jason Hall claimed that World of Warcraft's first shop mount made more money than all of StarCraft 2. If that is truly the case, then it would make sense why the studio would not want to commit to a full-on sequel. If a simple $15 store item can make more than a massive RTS title, then there is really no reason to spend resources on something bigger. Even though fans may want to see what happens next, from a studio perspective, sticking with microtransactions just seems to make more business sense as long as they remain profitable.
Along with that, the RTS genre has definitely faded in popularity a bit over the years. While there are still some popular ones on the market, the industry has mostly moved away from that in favor of more online experiences. That shift is likely why Blizzard's president said that the next entry may not come in the form of an RTS, though with Microsoft's success in that market thanks to Age of Empires, that may not be the case after all. Fans will just have to wait and see what happens.
StarCraft 2
StarCraft 2 is the second installment in the beloved real-time strategy release from Blizzard. A now free-to-play title, players have access to a wide array of characters from the StarCraft universe and can take on a robust single-player story, as well as cooperative missions and PvP.
