Developers of New StarCraft Game Can Already Play Shooter and Fight Hydralisks

The StarCraft team now needs to determine the scope of the project.

A new project in the StarCraft franchise was announced at the September BlizzCon 2026 presentation. Developers showed a cinematic trailer and are now gradually revealing certain details.

Development of the new StarCraft is led by Dan Hay, who is known for his work on the recent numbered entries in the Far Cry franchise. He spoke with Game Informer and answered several questions.

According to him, development has been underway for some time and the new StarCraft is not vaporware. Dan Hay can play a build right now in his office. Some gameplay mechanics are already implemented, including combat, weapons, and characters:

I will tell you this: after watching the teaser, I can go back to the office and play the game. I can actually play it, it is not vaporware. I can play it long enough to encounter characters, explore the world, and feel what it is like when a hydralisk almost tears your head off, and what it is like to take a Gauss rifle and try to fight off that creature.

The team has many ideas and now, Dan Hay explains, the creators of the new StarCraft “need to properly determine the scope of the project.” The developers are determined to meet the previously outlined release timeframe:

We take the year 2030 very seriously. As I said earlier, the difference between art and graffiti, in my opinion, is the frame. The date is our frame. It clarifies a lot: we sit around discussing some idea and say, “That is super cool, it would be great, let us do it.” And then we ask ourselves, “Can we do it by this date?” And if the answer is no, then: “Okay, stop. We need to rethink.”

Rumors previously circulated that StarCraft might be handed over to another company, but during the interview, Dan Hay stated that this game is “100% a Blizzard product.”

StarCraft does not have a specific release date yet. The game is expected to launch in 2030 as an open-world shooter. Chronologically, the events will take place 70 years later in the Koprulu sector.

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