Key Takeaways
- Blizzard announced an open-world StarCraft 3 targeting 2030, though it revealed no gameplay, platform, or story details.
- The sequel will follow 2010’s StarCraft II and mark a major shift from the real-time strategy formula that helped shape modern esports.
- BlizzCon 2026 also announced World of Warcraft Forever, a spring 2029 window for Diablo V, and confirmed a Netflix animated Diablo series.
StarCraft is finally returning, but Blizzard Entertainment is asking fans to settle in for a long wait. At BlizzCon 2026, the company revealed that a new open-world StarCraft shooter is targeting release in spring 2030.
Per Polygon, the announcement offers StarCraft players something they have wanted for years: confirmation that Blizzard is moving ahead with a new full-scale game.
While the franchise was built around real-time strategy, the new StarCraft is an open-world shooter, signaling a substantially different framework. Blizzard has not provided further details about its gameplay, platforms, story, or a more specific release window.
The new game arrives two decades after StarCraft II, which debuted in 2010 and expanded through Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void. The series remains one of Blizzard’s most influential properties, with its competitive scene helping establish the blueprint for modern esports—particularly in South Korea, where professional StarCraft became a major television attraction.
Although Blizzard has continued supporting the franchise through a remaster and updates, fans have spent more than a decade waiting for another major standalone game.
The distant release date stood out during a BlizzCon packed with projects arriving considerably sooner. Blizzard announced that World of Warcraft Forever, an expanded version of the MMO’s original era, will launch on November 4 following a beta beginning on September 17.
Executive producer Holly Longdale described the project as “friendly, familiar, and new,” promising an experience that will be “easy to get into and play, and deep enough to stay forever.”
World of Warcraft Forever will keep players inside a version of Azeroth modeled after the first year of the original game, maintaining a level cap of 60 while introducing new material. Blizzard’s plans include three new zones, more than 1,000 quests, nine dungeons, two raids, a new PvP Battleground, and the Skyborne Elves as a playable race.
“There’s no rush here,” Longdale said. “It’s the journey that counts, not the destination.”
Blizzard also used the event to outline an aggressive future for Diablo. The studio offered an early look at Diablo V, scheduled for spring 2029, and announced that the Amazon will join Diablo IV as its next class.
“We are thrilled to share that we are in development on a new animated series for Diablo with Netflix,” Faries said, calling herself a fan of the franchise’s “indulgent darkness.”
She also suggested that Blizzard is exploring adaptations involving more of its properties. “Diablo, I promise, is just the beginning,” she said before naming the Overwatch and Warcraft communities.
The announcements arrive at the first BlizzCon since 2023, nearly three years after Microsoft completed its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
