Blizzard Halts StarCraft II Development More Than a Decade After It Launched

Blizzard Entertainment has announced it's ending new content development on StarCraft II, a science fiction real-time strategy launched in 2010. Rob Bridenbecker, Blizzard executive producer and vice president, released a statement explaining the move, " [This] free us up to think about what’s next, not just with regard to StarCraft II, but for the StarCraft universe as a whole."

Even though the game will no longer feature new paid content like Commanders and War Chests, Blizzard is still supporting StarCraft II's esports scene along with season rolls and necessary balance fixes. StarCraft II was at the forefront of modern esports and one of the long-running leagues in the industry.

StarCraft II's latest expansion pack, Legacy of the Void, was released in 2015. A campaign pack, Nova Covert Ops, followed a year later. Since then, Blizzard has produced War Chests, unlockable content packs with in-game cosmetics that support community tournaments. Its final War Chest was released in June this year. The year 2020 marks StarCraft II's huge milestone with one of its largest-ever patches, with massive updates to the editor, Prestige Talents for Co-op Commanders, and gameplay improvements delivered to players worldwide. Additionally, there will be no Q4 balance update as the developer has just released on in August.

Blizzard has not announced any new projects on the StarCraft series. The developer has been working on major upcoming titles such as Overwatch 2 and World of Warcraft: Shadowlands. With Blizzard moving away from StarCraft II, a fresh storyline involving the Zergs, Protoss, and Terrans might just be on the horizon.