In an intriguing turn of events, game giant Blizzard has raised eyebrows with a new job advertisement that alludes to the development of an upcoming open-world shooter game. The recruitment notice spotted by eagle-eyed fans reveals the search for an associate design director who would be a critical player in the development of this new title.
The responsibilities attached to the position suggest a cutting-edge opportunity within Blizzard’s project landscape. The successful candidate would be a visionary responsible for shaping key strategic innovations in this highly-anticipated open-world shooter. To meet this ambitious goal, the implications point toward a designer who’s perpetually in sync with the latest trends in both indie and AAA gaming space.
The specifics of this project remain undisclosed, however, a series of clues point towards this being an iteration of a StarCraft shooter. The idea stems from rumors that began swirling in September of a third attempt by Blizzard to craft a StarCraft shooter. The roots of these rumors can be traced to Dan Hay, a former executive producer for Far Cry, who reportedly joined Blizzard in 2022.
The buzz was amplified through a statement made by Jason Schreier, the esteemed Bloomberg reporter, during a conversation about his book, ‘Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment.’ He suggested that if this StarCraft shooter project hasn’t been canned, it can be considered an ongoing effort at Blizzard. His comments highlight Blizzard’s rather patchy history with StarCraft shooters.
Blizzard’s long-standing fascination with StarCraft shooters dates back to the early 2000s. The notorious StarCraft Ghost, projected as a tactical-action console game, which was supposed to be sent out into the world in 2002 as a bold next step from its real-time strategy roots. However, after several delays, the promising Ghost operative game got shelved in 2006. Again, in 2019, a project code-named Ares, designed to give the StarCraft universe a shooter mold, was discontinued, and Blizzard moved its resources to focus on Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2.
The driving force behind this speculated StarCraft shooter, Dan Hay, comes with an impressive portfolio. He made his mark at Ubisoft where he served as a creative director and executive producer on Far Cry 5 and executive director for Far Cry New Dawn and Far Cry 6. Earlier, he was also a part of Far Cry 3 and other Far Cry editions, at a time when he helmed the Far Cry brand as its executive producer.
While it’s still unclear what this proposed open-world shooter might be, it appears that StarCraft is not at rest at Blizzard. A recent burst of activity in the form of StarCraft: Remastered and StarCraft 2: Campaign Collection on Game Pass and a StarCraft crossover with the Warcraft card game, Hearthstone, seems to announce that Blizzard has significant plans for StarCraft. With the eerie thrill of the unknown and the possibilities of something colossal in the pipeline, it wouldn’t be a leap to assume that Blizzard has been carefully crafting a world far beyond our current realm of imagined possibilities.
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