While the franchise has been absent for a while, it’s looking more and more likely that Blizzard Entertainment’s legendaryStarCraftfranchise is mounting a comeback. The series has mostly been dormant sinceStarCraft 2rolled out itsWings of Liberty,Heart of the Swarm, andLegacy of the Voidinstallments from 2010 to 2015. Some developments have occurred since, likeWings of Libertygoing free-to-play in 2017,StarCraft: Remasteredbeing released in 2017, andStarCraft 2: Campaign Collectionlaunching in November 2024, but a fully newStarCrafttitle has never looked as plausible as it does now.
Fans are abuzz with discussion now that a new ESRB listing has appeared under the name “Starcraft.” It was rated “Teen” for “animated blood and gore” and “strong language,” but that’s all the information that was listed. Fortunately, fans can connect the dots thanks to theStarCraft-related releases andHearthstoneevents announced recently, Blizzard hiring for an open-world shooter, and recent rumors that aStarCraftreboot would be a shooter. Even if it isn’t the real-time strategy revival thatStarCraft’s community dreamed of, a new shooter could share the success that another classic sci-fi franchise has recently found.
How A StarCraft Shooter Lines Up With Warhammer 40K’s Game Catalog
Drawing comparisons betweenStarCraftandWarhammer 40Kis a cliché by this point, but how much both franchises have in common can’t be ignored. TheTerrans are the Imperial Guard and Space Marines combined, which also represent a fictional Earth renamed Holy Terra; the Protoss are a mixture of the Eldar and T’au xenos races, with emphasis on the Eldar’s psychic proficiency; and the Zerg wouldn’t look out of place in a Tyranid hive fleet. And in spite ofStarCrafthaving a much shorter and more compact history than the multimedia giant that is40K, their games also share surprisingly deep parallels.
AlthoughWarhammer 40Khas its roots in tabletop strategy, it also has several standout video games, several of which stem from Relic Entertainment. Having made its start with theHomeworldseries in 1999, a year afterStarCraftand itsBrood Warexpansion launched, Relic used its RTS experience to secure aWarhammer 40Klicensed game. TheWarhammer 40K: Dawn of Warseries thus took off in 2004 with its first two games receiving multiple expansions each.Dawn of War 1and2now stand alongsideStarCraftas some of theeasiest titles to recommend to RTS newcomers, modern tech issues notwithstanding.
Dawn of War Was Followed By Space Marine, Which StarCraft May Emulate
However, it isn’t Relic Entertainment’s RTS accolades alone that relate its story to the newStarCraftshooter. While 2017 would see the heavily criticized launch ofDawn of War 3as Relic’s finalWarhammerventure, back in 2011, Relic made a major pivot with the release ofWarhammer 40K: Space Marine.Space Marineshifted genres fromDawn of War’s RTSto a third-person shooter and hack-and-slash hybrid, and it won a whole new crowd of players over in the process. While Relic had to cancel its sequel attempt in 2013, Saber Interactive later stepped in to finish the job in 2024, and the rest is history.
Why StarCraft Copying Warhammer 40K Is A Good Move
Despite the rumoredStarCraftgame potentially being Blizzard’sthird attempt at aStarCraftshooterafterStarCraft: GhostandStarCraft: Ares, it is ironically best equipped to succeed thanks to having an ideal role model in front of it. Saber Interactive’sSpace Marine 2is a far cry from Relic Entertainment’sDawn of War 2, but both games do a stellar job at adapting the same futuristic universe. Now,StarCrafthas the chance to mirror that trajectory and reboot itself at the same time. Even though having anotherStarCraftRTS and a goodDawn of War 3would be ideal, this formula can still get results that fans and newcomers both enjoy.
StarCraft II: Campaign Collection
WHERE TO PLAY
With millions of players already in the fight, StarCraft II has made gaming history. Now it’s your turn to take command and lead vast armies of terran, protoss and zerg to victory amongst the stars. Prepare for interstellar war, commander. You’re needed at the front.Play through sweeping single-player campaigns with a combined total of over 70 missions from Wings of Liberty®, Heart of the Swarm®, Legacy of the Void® and Nova Covert Ops.Group up online with other players in Co-Op Commander Mode and play as Raynor, Kerrigan, Artanis, Swann, Zagara, Vorazun or Karax.Play a challenging Co-op scenario every week as your Commanders gain experience and adapt to an ever-shifting battlefield.Command huge armies with a vast arsenal of multiplayer units, from swarms of Zerglings to massive Battlecruisers, across thousands of maps and mods.Get immediate access to Ranked multiplayer and begin your ascent of a vast competitive ladder with leagues for players of every skill level.As an added bonus, this Campaign Collection also unlocks Artanis in Heroes of the Storm®, a free-to-play game also available from Blizzard Entertainment.
