While Blizzard is very much focussed on its big money-makers like its various Warcraft games, from WoW to Hearthstone to Warcraft Rumble, as well as Diablo and the much-maligned Overwatch 2, he’s still open to StarCraft making a comeback. That said, RTS fans shouldn’t get their hopes up. While the series might return, that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be an RTS, and whatever shape it takes will depend on the person or team who goes to bat for it.
“It’s not me saying, ‘Go make a StarCraft game,’” Ybarra told Bloomberg. “I need to have someone who has the vision and passion that comes with the idea, and I’ll bet on that team.”
A vision and passion he - according to his own words - clearly does not have. 😑
The good days of Blizzard are over, I’m not getting my hopes up for anything they produce nowadays.
I’ll keep an ear to the ground.
But I don’t like that $90 preorder logic at all, it’s almost weird it exists.
I try to imagine going to a gamestop and a gaming associate was like, buy that game 3 days later and I’ll give you $20.
Skip the in game pet and mount, that most people forget exists after the expansion, and I’ll make that $40
But then… why does this system exist?!
Early access is the new fad, because it costs nothing and has value to some players. The increasing drive for more monetization is Activision’s influence, Blizzard was really lazy about it before being bought.
At least early access makes a little sense in an mmo. The new areas are super crowded on launch, so letting some get through early does help.
I still have Diablo II Resurrected added to my Steam Library as “Blizzard’s remaining dignity”. And even that is because it’s made by Blizzard North. Apart from maybe WoW (at least the golden years, not necessarily the current state), I can’t think of anything else that has kept its perceived value.
I remember when Overwatch came out. It was so damn fun. Then they ruined it with patches and finally deleted it, only for it to be replaced by that shitty money making machine “Overwatch 2”. It’s kinda sad to know that some games can’t be experienced now in the same way they were when they first came out. Same with WoW.
that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be an RTS, and whatever shape it takes will depend on the person or team who goes to bat for it.
So… it’s not Starcraft, then. It’s just another game.
So… it’s not Starcraft, then.
I think Starcraft has enough story and character development by now that its identity is more than just the mechanics that it started with.
It’s just another game.
It would still be a Starcraft game. If we were to ignore the lore and only consider the RTS format, then even the first Starcraft was “just another game”. Those mechanics weren’t unique or new.
Similarly, World of Warcraft is still a Warcraft game, even though it’s hung on a different framework from the original.
I think Starcraft has enough story and character development by now that its identity is more than just the mechanics that it started with.
I can imagine that, but I don’t think anyone but RTS fans know that.
I feel like, if they want to ‘bring it back’ as a brand, they would need to do an RTS game with all the marketing and such, to please the fans and bring it back into the public’s memory, and then they could follow it up with a non-RTS spinoff.
If they don’t do it like this, they’ll likely have another debacle like with Diablo Immortals, where fans are waiting for a full-fledged title in that series and they’re announcing something that’s just not that.
StarCraft doesn’t have to be at RTS, you know.
RTS is a dead genre, but that doesn’t mean the SC universe has to die with it.
WTF does “dead genre” mean? There are still people that love it and play it and want more.
The people shouting at blizzcon aren’t yelling because they need a new model and voice lines for protoss units, they are doing it because they want another RTS
StarCraft hasn’t seen any significant development since 2015. There aren’t many other competitors in the RTS space since about that time, as well.
C&C hasn’t had anything since 2010. AoE’s last major entry was in 2021 and had a pretty weak reception. I can’t think of the last RTS that actually sold well and has large adoption besides SC2.
It’s a very niche genre these days, and few developers are willing to make them in today’s climate of looters, extractions, and battle royales. RTS games just simply aren’t making the waves they used to anymore.
Blizzard died a long time ago.
Yeah, let’s not forget that Blizzard was bought by Activision and Activision was just bought by Microsoft.
There is no “Blizzard”, just Microsoft.
“Ohoho Kerrigan got herself in a big pickle, could you help her collect all these fruit?”
StarCraft Ghost back on the menu?
Yeah it’s been awhile, old penny arcade about it been almost 20 years. I remember hoping to see it at the time.
