NEXON is reportedly trying to buy the Starcraft IP from Blizzard in a bid to make Starcraft 3

Published:

2 September 2026

Last Updated: 2 September 2026

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Korean gaming giant NEXON is reportedly looking to buy the Starcraft IP from Blizzard as it continues its alleged work on an upcoming spin-off game.

Originally reported by Chosun, a Korean newspaper, NEXON is attempting to purchase the entire franchise from Blizzard. According to a “high-ranking official”, NEXON and Blizzard’s discussions on the future of the franchise are “on the verge of being concluded”.

According to the official, NEXON is trying to lock in “the development rights for the successor to the existing Starcraft”. This means that the studio would be able to work on and release an eventual Starcraft 3, although Blizzard might not be involved in that title.

Alongside the potential Starcraft 3, Nexon is reportedly still working on a mystery game in the series. The Korean gaming giant is said to be working as a “shooter experience” that’s seemingly a “re-imagination” of the series that won’t have any major impact on the current canon.

According to prior reports, NEXON’s pitch to Blizzard was “a unique way to utilise the StarCraft IP”, and entered the prototype phase in February 2026. The project is reportedly some kind of shooter, although it’s not known if it’s first or third-person at the time of writing.

It’s clear, though, that NEXON is chasing the Starcraft IP with fervour, as have many Korean studios have in the past. While the franchise has been popular worldwide, the RTS series has proven to be endlessly popular within South Korea.

For this reason, NEXON is continually pushing to have more ownership and the ability to have more output for the franchise. Considering the last expansion for SC2 was over a decade ago, and SC3 is seemingly nowhere to be seen, there’s hope that someone could make another RTS for the series.

Nevertheless, the future of Starcraft is as unknown as its been since 2015. Fans are still holding out hope for literally anything to happen, whether that’s a NEXON project or otherwise. Considering the state of gaming nowadays, both gaming giants are going to monetise the absolute hell out of a Starcraft 3 anyway.

Right now, Blizzard is working on faster releases of new Diablo games as well as continued support for its prior Diablo games. Furthermore, the studio is working on expanding World of Warcraft to become more than an MMO with activities such as housing and more.

About The Author

Lewis White

Lewis White is a veteran games journalist with over a decade in the field. Starting with beloved Xbox website ICXM/XboxMAD, Lewis became the Gaming Editor at MSPoweruser before becoming the Editor in Chief of StealthOptional and Gfinityesports. Lewis later jumped to By Gamers For Gamers where he jumped to become EIC of VideoGamer and the host of the New VideoGamer Podcast prior to the website’s acquisition.

Over the years, Lewis has also seen long-form investigative pieces published in outlets such as Eurogamer, PCGamesN, Wireframe, Retro Gamer, Nintendo Life, and EDGE. Now, as the Editor in Chief of FRVR Blog, Lewis strives to bring the same level of quality journalism with interview-led content to the site in both written and audio form with the FRVR Podcast.

With a First Degree BA Hons in Games Journalism and Public Relations, Lewis has been a stable part of the British games press for over a decade, and has frequently displayed his love of Halo, The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and other games pretty much everywhere he’s worked. And FRVR is no different.

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