Report: StarCraft FPS canceled to focus on Diablo 4, Overwatch 2

By Jonathon Dornbush

Blizzard reportedly canceled an unannounced StarCraft first-person shooter but instead decided to transfer resources to the non-advertised Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2 development teams.

Kotaku reports the internal change in Blizzard, citing three sources who reported the cancellation of the StarCraft project, allegedly baptized Ares. Kotaku notes however that, despite the cancellation of Ares and a non-advertised mobile game, there was no dismissal as a direct result. Those working on these so-called alleged missing projects will focus on Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2, two suites of the famous Blizzard game that have not yet been officially confirmed.

Blizzard comments on canceled projects

When contacted, a Blizzard spokesperson made the same comment that Kotaku received, stating that "the reason we tend not to talk about it publicly is that anything can happen in the course of time." development". The full statement of the company reads as follows:

"We do not usually comment on non-advertised projects, but we will say the following:

We always have people working on different ideas behind the scenes – including several projects at the moment – but the reason we tend not to talk about it publicly is that anything can happen during development. As has been the case at Blizzard many times in the past, it is still possible that we make the decision not to move forward on a given project. Announcing something before thinking we're ready is at risk of creating a lot of frustration and disappointment for both our players and ourselves, not to mention the distraction and added pressure on our development teams.

We invest our heart and soul in this work and, as players, we know how exciting it can be to see and know for sure that a new project is coming. Knowing that changes or disappointments can happen is no less painful when we have to put a project on hold or an announcement does not go as planned. We always make decisions about it, regardless of the end result or how things might be interpreted, based on our values, what we think makes sense to Blizzard, and what we hope our players will appreciate. most. The work associated with these projects – whether they are delivered or not – is extremely valuable. This often leads to great things and helps foster an experimental culture here.

That said, we can not wait to reveal other topics we are working on in a timely manner. "

According to the report, Ares had built a prototype in which the players controlled an Earthminesman who was fighting Zerg extraterrestrials, with alleged shots to work on a playable Zerg. In addition, the report states that the projects still under construction, Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4, will be "key elements of Blizzard's strategy in the years to come".

The news of Diablo 4 would be in the last year, including details of the alleged gameplay of the sequel. Kotaku's new report states, in the meantime, that Overwatch 2 would have "an important element of EVP".

Still unconfirmed, previous reports allege that Blizzard shot a Blizzcon 2018 Diablo 4 ad, although Blizzard claims the opposite about Diablo's reported announcement. Several non-advertised Diablo projects that are not Diablo Immortal have been confirmed as being in development, although a good Diablo 4 has not yet been confirmed by Blizzard.

The legacy of StarCraft

Last year, IGN reviewed StarCraft retrospectively for its 20th anniversary and, earlier last year, explained that StarCraft's legacy was more than multiplayer.

Whatever Blizzard has planned to announce this year, the BlizzCon 2019 is now scheduled for November this year and is expected to feature the 2019 Overwatch World Cup.

Jonathon Dornbush is the editor of IGN and the Beyond Leader! Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.