author: Bart Swiatek
Blizzard Cancelled StarCraft FPS; Overwatch 2 in the Works?
Blizzard Entertainment worked behind the scenes on a shooter set in the universe of the famous StarCraft RTS series. The project was cancelled after two years of development. The team wants to focus on Diablo 4 and the continuation of Overwatch.
IN A NUTSHELL:
- Blizzard Entertainment cancelled an FPS set in the StarCraft universe;
- The company wants to focus on Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2;
- Both productions are to be announced at this year's BlizzCon.
Kotaku reports that Blizzard Entertainment was working on a first-person shooter set in the StarCraft universe. In terms of gameplay, the game - known under the codename Ares - was supposed to resemble the Battlefield series from DICE. We would take on the role of the Terran Marines, and perhaps also the Zerg. Unfortunately, the title was cancelled. Developers are reportedly planning to focus on developing Diablo 4 and... Overwatch 2, Both productions are to be announced at this year's BlizzCon.
Work on the Ares project began in 2017 and was initially a kind of experiment - the company wanted to see what it could do by combining the StarCraft franchise with the engine developed for Overwatch. According to some sources, the title looked quite good before it was cancelled, although others note that the development process was bumpy. The cancellation was a shock to some developers, but nobody lost their job because of it.
We always have people working on different ideas behind the scenes – including on multiple projects right now – but the reason we tend not to discuss them publicly is because anything can happen over the course of development. As has been the case at Blizzard numerous times in the past, there is always the possibility that we’ll make the decision to not move forward on a given project. Announcing something before we feel it’s ready stands the risk of creating a lot of frustration and disappointment, both for our players and us, not to mention distraction and added pressure for our development teams," reads Blizzard's announcement sent to Kotaku.
Ares is not Blizzard's first action game in the StarCraft universe. In 2002, StarCraft: Ghost was announced - a hybrid of a third-person shooter and stealth game, in which we were to take on the role of Nova, the title ghost (the agent finally found her way to StarCraft 2 and received her own mission pack - StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops). The title was intended for the original Xbox, PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube. The work on it lasted four years.
It is worth noting that in addition to Ares, a second project - an unannounced mobile game - was also cancelled. The desire to focus on Diablo 4 is hardly a surprise - after the unsuccessful announcement of Diablo Immortal Blizzard must show that the franchise is still important for the studio. Overwatch is one of the biggest successes in the history of the team. Unfortunately, the information about the continuation of the game is scarce - Kotaku's sources only mention that in addition to the competitive gameplay, the game will also offer a PvE mode reminiscent of the iconic Left 4 Dead series.
