Major Korean games development studios and publishers are competing for the rights to the StarCraft intellectual property (IP) as Blizzard shops the licence to external developers.
As per reports in Asia Today and Korean news outlets, four games companies, NCSoft, Nexon, Netmarble, and Krafton, are in fierce bidding war for the licence. Note that Blizzard isn’t selling the StarCraft IP – they’re simply looking for big developers who want to licence it to make their own games. So sadly this isn’t a sign there’ll be a StarCraft 3.
Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainement
Blizzard is Reportedly Licencing StarCraft IP Rights to Korean Devs
The potential licencing of the StarCraft rights is incredibly significant for both Blizzard, StarCraft fans, and Korean game companies. StarCraft holds a special significance in Korea, where the original game first hit it off as a major esport – being broadcast on television and still seeing high-level competition to this day.
Since its release in 1998, StarCraft has become the gold standard of competitive RTS games. However it’s laid dormant for years, some would argue, with StarCraft 2 only receiving limited support from Blizzard.
Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainement
Now a new licencing contract, which will reportedly allow developers to create not just StarCraft RTS titles, but potentially RPGs, Shooters, and other titles, and publish globally, is up for grabs – And Korea’s major players are taking it incredibly serious
NCSoft, MMORPG publishing giant, and the company behind Guild Wars is one of the front runners. Their bid could see StarCraft compete against its fantasy cousin, World of Warcraft, in the MMORPG.
Nexon, the company behind MapleStory, and hit mobile games such as Blue Archive, has a history of licencing top games. In 2008, they released Counter-Strike Online, a tactical shooter licenced from and based on Valve’s Counter-Strike series.
NetMarble, arguably the smallest of the four devs, is a mobile-focused publisher who specialize in licenced spinoffs. Their portfolio includes Marvel: Future Fight, Marvel Future Revolution, Star Wars: Force Arena, and Blade&Soul Revolution.
Last but not least, Krafton is, of course, the publisher behind PUBG, PUBG Mobile, and most recently, InZOI. Their aspirations could see a StarCraft FPS finally see the light of day.
Details of the potential licencing agreement are sparse, and it’s unknown if multiple companies can win the licence, or it’s all or nothing in the bidding. Still, with the potential for more games in the StarCraft universe after so long, fans should be excited no matter who wins the licence from Blizzard.
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