People complain and spread misinformation due to sudden amount of news and rumours. So i made that FAQ. Thanks to my English you can notice it's not AI, so it's less misinformed.
TL;DR
- Shooter yes, StarCraft 3 no, Nexon build separate.
- Blizzard TPS in UE5, Terrans + Zerg, set 2575. Nexon shooter separate project.
- ARG live, BlizzCon opens Sep 12. Shooter likely in opening ceremony window. RSL + Classic Cup run day two.
What is happening?
The ARG for the new unannounced game has started, so we are close to it. Blizzard also shipped SC2 patch 5.0.16 in June 2026 — biggest overhaul since Legacy of the Void (workers 12→8, Warpgate rework, Ghost rebalance, hotfixes into July). Live game gets that kind of surgery when the franchise matters again.
How many workers will be at the start? 14 occupants detected in Transmission 01. By Transmission 03, civilian population counter reads 92 → 391 → 570 → 1610 → ERROR → CAP EXCEEDED. (Occupants = ARG characters waking up, not dev headcount.)
- Transmissions: https://starcraft-arg.vercel.app/transmissions/01 (thanks JarlMarx)
- Transmission 02: https://starcraft-arg.vercel.app/transmissions/02 (recovered Sep 5 — see news post)
- Transmission 03: https://starcraft-arg.vercel.app/transmissions/03 (recovered Sep 8 — see news post)
- Lore dive day 1: https://www.reddit.com/r/starcraft/comments/1w6l3py/lore_dive_on_the_preblizzcon_arg_day_1/ (Subsourian)
- Press mirror: MassivelyOP covered the glitch + ARG on Sep 4 (https://massivelyop.com/2026/09/04/starcrafts-website-is-glitching-possibly-as-a-preamble-to-a-big-blizzcon-announcement/), via Wowhead's hidden-messages find. Note: MOP frames it as Blizzard + Nexon together. This FAQ says separate builds — see table below.
What will it be? What it is NOT?
It's the SHOOTER! It is NOT AN RTS, NOT STARCRAFT 3, NOT A MOBILE GAME, NOT FROM NEXON.
Source ladder (most credible first)
First of all, the sources that we have:
- Jason Schreier - wrote a book about Blizzard and several articles about them, focusing on the bussiness side. He is the most credible video gaming journalist right now and the most credible source on what is happening at Blizzard. In his book he stated the the shooter set in the StarCraft Universe is being incubated. Lately he visited Blizzard and got an interview with their CEO.
- Jez Corden - basically a "leaker", who is an unofficial spokeperson for XBOX. Said that StarCraft isn't dead in 2023, while being drunk. Also seen the game. He is less credible than Schreier, but solid when it comes to XBOX an Microsoft.
- Job listings at Blizzard - could be deceitful on purpose.
- The ARG game happening right now. Strong signal on timing, weak signal on content.
Why would Blizzard make shooter?
Here is him breaking down the bussiness side www.youtube.com/watch?v=psmaSABMiH0 - the interview with Schreier. TLDR: Blizzard wants to concentrate on the existing franchizes and produce more content in them. Johanna Fairies (current CEO of Blizzard) remade the structure of bonuses and salaries the way developers wouldn't be scared to work on a less profitable projects. Blizzard thinks that RTSes aren't profitable anymore and none of the pitches were greenlit.
What leaks exist?
- Untitled Blizzard game: https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/Untitled_StarCraft_game_(Blizzard_Entertainment)
- Untitled Nexon game: https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/Untitled_StarCraft_game_(Nexon)
Blizzard shooter vs Nexon shooter (separate builds)
Do not merge these. Two builds, two teams.
Blizzard build:
- TPS, not cartoonish, Terrans + Zerg (via Corden)
- Corden says he saw test footage: Terran marines vs Zerg, open-world, cinematic campaign (via Windows Central Sep 8 preview)
- Co-op, crossplay, not Xbox-exclusive — PlayStation too (via Corden Sep 6 expectations, relayed vgtimes)
- UE5 (via listings)
- Gritty, SC2-cinematic tone. Squad-based PvE, vehicle sections, large boss encounters (via WCCFTech Sep 4, Alessio Palumbo). Design director credits: Insomniac + The Coalition.
- In development since The Odyssey was cancelled, so since 2023. The Odyssey was a survival game made in UE5. It was cancelled due to bad netcode.
- Set in 2575, almost 70 years after SC2. ARG transmissions (Roxara, Theta Squadron, Special Order 176) play in same year. Transmission 03 adds: 3 patients with O₂ saturation above 100%, vent horror, Keri Parker emergency breach, D. Alvarez insider warning.
- Edit: Don't count on it being Destiny-like. (Walked back.)
Nexon build:
- Nothing with the upcoming Blizzard shooter from Blizzard (might do publishing tho). They are developing another separate StarCraft shooter.
- Latest escalation, revised: Chosun (via WCCFTech Sep 2, Palumbo, rated 75% probable) first said buyout, then revised to license — Nexon gets development rights for a sequel/mainline StarCraft, not the IP outright. Senior industry source says contract near final. Decision sits with Xbox (CEO Asha Sharma, profit mandate from Nadella; Blizzard doing well, no cash need). RTS niche + 16 years since Wings of Liberty vs Xbox big-franchise focus is the logic for selling.
- TlDR: The lead is Choi Jun-ho who is a former mapmaker for Brood War. The package: Nexon won a 4-way bid (vs NCSoft, Netmarble, Krafton, per MTN April 2025) pairing StarCraft development rights with Overwatch Mobile distribution in Korea/Japan (mobile MOBA, bidders call it Overwatch 3). No genre restrictions on the StarCraft side. My personal speculations: the UMS past hints smaller top-down PvP. Flag as speculation.
Thin pile, one line each:
- Job listings suggest it might be anything. The words FPSRPG, open-world AAA shooter, online, multi-season story arcs were spotted. Unconfirmed.
- There are vehicles, but that probably meant space-suits.
- The devs: a new team was assembled for the project from newcomers and remnants of the team that worked on the Odyssey. Dan Hay is rumoured to be the lead, he worked on Far Cry. Drew Murray is another important dev, he was a game director for Sunset Overdrive 1-2, some Resistance games and Spider-man 2. Flag rumor.
StarCraft 3 / RTS future?
There are no reports or suggestions that StarCraft 3 is in a development, but there are some options. Not a lot of them include Blizzard.
- According to Jez Corden, Relic is currently trying to make Age of Empires 5 on Unreal Engine 5. They are interested to talk about StarCraft 3 after that. Thin.
- Translations of the article yesterday suggest that Nexon might be interested in StarCraft 3 as well. High possibility it's just a slop article. Flag.
- There is a leak for the future of Warcraft which includes Warcraft chronicles (RTS). It's probably some anthology and nothing serious. That indicates that Blizzard is still interested in the RTS genre a little bit. Blackbird Interactive (co-dev on Warcraft Remastered) rumored to be involved again — could be WC3 expansions or WC1/2 remakes (Corden/Windows Central, Sep 8).
What will be at BlizzCon? What to watch? Who is there?
Blizzcon starts on september 12. The announcement will be at the opening ceremony. There is the window for an announced project on the main stage between two panels for WoW and Diablo. However, the game might be only announced and we know that they will announce several games and projects. The ARG suggests the shooter will be announced, we don't know if there will be something else or not.
What to watch? There will be an official stream of the opening ceremony. On the second day there will be the finals of the RSL and classic cup for StarCraft. RSL finals: Serral vs Rogue. Classic Cup: Idra vs MC and Boxer vs Nal_rA. (Brackets unconfirmed at press time — verify before match day.)
Who will be at Blizzcon? Artosis and Tasteless are coming for RSL, i assume Serral and Rogue too. Giant Grant Games will be there. Subsourian will be there too. The Janitor and the Intern will have their own panel.
Patch?
Might be after the Blizzcon.
What it means for private scene
Tracker editorial: a Blizzard shooter does not touch WoW private servers directly, but it moves the whole Blizzard emu scene. New official shooters pull modders and reverse-engineers toward the new title, which historically drains emulator contributor pools for months after launch. If the 2575 setting ships with new lore tooling, expect fan remakes and custom-map energy (the same UMS roots Choi Jun-ho came from) to spill back into StarCraft and Warcraft 3 custom scenes. We cover it here because scene health is what this tracker tracks — same reason we run the Classic+ hub and the census. If a reveal lands Sep 12, this FAQ updates to fact.