Blizzard has finally brought StarCraft back, but not as StarCraft 3. The new game is called StarCraft, it is an open-world shooter, and it is scheduled for 2030.

The reveal happened during the BlizzCon 2026 opening ceremony on September 12. Blizzard showed a three-minute cinematic built around a Dominion marine preparing to fight the Zerg Swarm. It did not show gameplay.

What did Blizzard reveal?

Dan Hay introduced the game onstage and described it as an open-world shooter. Hay previously worked on Ubisoft’s Far Cry series, but Blizzard has not announced the full development team.

The cinematic follows a recruit through the Dominion war machine: armor, transport ships, deployment, and an approaching Zerg force. Blizzard’s new StarCraft website tells players to “Defend Mankind” and “Join the Dominion.”

A Dominion soldier watches military structures deploy across an alien landscape in the new StarCraft cinematic.
The cinematic shows the scale of a Dominion deployment, but Blizzard has not shown gameplay. Image: Blizzard Entertainment.

Is this StarCraft 3?

No. Blizzard is calling the game StarCraft, without a number, and confirmed that it is a shooter rather than a real-time strategy game. The company did not announce a separate RTS or say that this project replaces one.

StarCraft II began with Wings of Liberty in 2010. Its final expansion, Legacy of the Void, arrived in 2015, followed by the Nova Covert Ops mission packs in 2016. Blizzard also tried to build a third-person action game called StarCraft: Ghost years earlier, but that project never released.

When will the new StarCraft game be released?

Blizzard announced 2030 as the release year. There is no exact date, and platforms have not been confirmed. The reveal also left out the camera perspective, multiplayer, co-op, progression, and how much of the game can be played alone.

A four-year runway gives Blizzard plenty of time to change or expand the project. Until gameplay appears, the cinematic is a statement of setting and tone, not proof of how the open world will work.

Towering Zerg creatures advance through fog toward Dominion soldiers in the new StarCraft cinematic.
The Zerg Swarm is back as the threat facing the Dominion. Image: Blizzard Entertainment.

What is confirmed about the story?

Players will take the role of a Dominion grunt fighting the returning Swarm. The Dominion is the Terran government that became a major power in StarCraft II, and the trailer presents its soldiers as humanity’s front line.

Blizzard has not confirmed appearances by Jim Raynor, Sarah Kerrigan, Artanis, or other established characters. It has also said nothing about playable Protoss or Zerg. The next reveal needs to show the actual game and explain what players do between battles. Would you rather play this shooter or see Blizzard make a new StarCraft RTS?