Nexon is rumoured to be publishing Overwatch Mobile and a new StarCraft game, according to multiple sources.
Activision Blizzard continues to power through the acquisition and restructuring process, with new reports focusing on the company’s next major moves. Reportedly, Blizzard is going to lock in South Korean publisher Nexon to publish the mobile version of Overwatch and a new StarCraft game. MTN is the first to point out Nexon as the publisher for Blizzard’s upcoming games. The game publisher is best known for The Finals, the popular online shooter developed by Nexon subsidiary Embark Studios.
The report claims, “Blizzard has been bidding since the fourth quarter of the last year for major Korean game companies, offering content development rights using the ‘Starcraft’ IP and the Korean and Japanese service rights for ‘Overwatch Mobile‘ as a package deal.” No further details are provided in the report, not even the genre of the StarCraft game. Based on internal reports, the mobile version of Overwatch is being referred to as “Overwatch 3.”
Last year, Blizzard began advertising for several jobs, which are believed to be for roles on an upcoming StarCraft game. The roles included associate design director, senior designer, and principal designer for an unannounced game. Job listings referenced an “open-world shooter game”, but no other information was definitive.
Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier also referenced a new StarCraft shooter in Blizzard’s development in his book Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment. The passage, which refers to two previous StarCraft shooters, reads: “Most of the developers were laid off, while a few would remain with Hay to begin incubating, of all things, a new StarCraft shooter. Perhaps after StarCraft Ghost and Ares, the third time would be the charm.”
Nexon may pick up the publishing responsibilities for Blizzard’s upcoming slate, especially with the continued success of their free-to-play models like Combat Arms and MapleStory. Their latest publishing successes include The First Beserker: Khazan and Mintrocket’s Dave the Diver. The South Korean publisher is big enough to bring Overwatch to mobile, and would be a natural progression for the Blizzard franchise, competing with the likes of Fortnite and Apex Legends Mobile. As for StarCraft, the franchise has died down since 2016. Whether Nexon will make the new StarCraft title F2P or a premium product has yet to be revealed.
StarCraft I & II Remastered hit Xbox Game Pass late last year, marking one of Microsoft and Xbox’s first collaborations with Blizzard’s well-known franchise. Overwatch has seen a resurgence in popularity with the launch of its new Stadium mode, helping it regain some of the ground it lost to Marvel Rivals‘ recent release.
