Blizzard Confirms New StarCraft Open-World Shooter for 2030

At the opening ceremony of BlizzCon 2026, a new StarCraft title was officially confirmed. The project is an open-world shooter led by Dan Hay, former head of the Far Cry series, with AnaLee Haertling as assistant director, and is planned for release in 2030. That release timing has been set. Hay, who also serves as general manager and vice president of StarCraft, said announcing a firm date early gives the team a shared goal and creates a time frame that pushes the project forward on schedule, but he did not disclose how long the new title has been in development.

Unlike the series' previous real-time strategy gameplay, the new title takes the form of an open-world shooter. The development team is working to build a world with a sense of realism that is easy for new players to enter while remaining recognizable to veterans through elements such as the series' original environments, weapons and armor. The new game will present the StarCraft battlefield from a ground-level perspective, with players facing war, different factions and massive lethal creatures as soldiers, rather than looking down on the battle from above as in a real-time strategy game. Hay cited facing a roughly 10-foot-tall hydralisk at close range as an example of the enemy's physical form and the sense of pressure felt when standing on the battlefield with a gun and armor. The barracks deployment scene shown in the trailer also reflects the different battlefield feel created by the shift in perspective.

The open-world structure will revolve around exploration, discovery and disruption. Multiple factions with differing positions will operate in the world, and the design allows players to use one side against another. Hay confirmed the game includes mechanics for turning enemies against each other, but did not disclose further details. The new title tells its story from the perspective of being present on the battlefield.

The new title is still far from release, and its official name, specific platforms and further gameplay details have not been announced.