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Nexon StarCraft Sequel Deal Is Reportedly Close
Few relationships in gaming are quite like the one between Blizzard Entertainment’s StarCraft and South Korea. The original game became a cultural phenomenon after its 1998 release, helping to accelerate the country’s PC bang and professional esports scenes while producing players who became celebrities in their own right.
Remarkably, that attachment has never completely disappeared. On September 1, StarCraft still ranked as the 10th most-played game across tracked South Korean PC bangs (Internet cafes), according to GameTrics. Now, South Korea could also play a major part in determining where the franchise goes next.
A new report from the major Korean newspaper Chosun claims that Nexon and Blizzard are nearing an agreement that could grant the Korean company development rights to a successor to the existing StarCraft series.
Could Nexon Actually Make StarCraft 3?
According to a Chosun industry source, negotiations between Nexon and Blizzard are nearing completion. The important wording concerns the right to develop a successor to the existing franchise. With StarCraft II already occupying that numbered sequel, the obvious conclusion is that such an agreement could potentially allow Nexon to develop StarCraft 3.
Neither Nexon nor Blizzard has confirmed the agreement; there is no official project title, and nothing in the latest report establishes that a potential sequel would necessarily remain a traditional real-time strategy game. That last point is especially important given what has previously been reported about the collaboration.
Earlier this year, Korean reporting claimed Nexon’s shooter division was developing a new game based on the sci-fi IP, with the project still in an early prototyping stage. Former custom map creator Choi Jun-ho was also reportedly involved. Whether the newly reported sequel rights refer to the same project, a broader one, or an entirely different game remains unclear.
Nexon and Blizzard Already Have Business Together
The idea of Blizzard choosing Nexon is not coming completely out of nowhere. Previous reports claimed that Nexon competed with other Korean publishers, including Krafton, Netmarble, and NCSoft, for the opportunity to work with the IP.
Nexon and Blizzard have since made at least one part of their relationship official. In March, Nexon announced an agreement to operate the PC version of Overwatch in South Korea, including PC bang and community strategy. The continued popularity in the country also makes the Korean company an understandable partner for any attempted revival.
Remains a Rumour for Now
What this latest report does is move the ongoing Nexon story in a considerably more interesting direction. A licensed spin-off is one thing. Giving another developer the ability to create a proper successor to one of Blizzard’s defining franchises would be something else entirely.
It would also raise plenty of questions about what a modern sequel would actually look like, especially given that Nexon’s previously reported project has been associated with shooters rather than RTS development.
For now, though, the safest conclusion is simply that Nexon is reportedly close to securing development rights for a new StarCraft successor. Whether that game ultimately becomes StarCraft 3 is still something Blizzard needs to tell us itself.
