Starcraft 3 Release Date Speculation, News, Leaks, Races & More

Uhn dara ma'nakai. That's Protoss for "our duty is unending" and, in our opinion, the perfect way to start talking about Starcraft 3. It has been well over a decade since the release of Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty and over seven years since Legacy of the Void. But when will Starcraft 3 release? Is the game even in development?

This consistently updated article outlines everything we know about Starcraft 3, from the speculated release date window to news, leaks, races, and any other information we could find, so let's get started.

Update on 20 May 2024: We've updated this article to reflect any new information or leaks regarding Starcraft 3.

A leak suggest StarCraft 3 is in development!

Latest Starcraft 3 News & Leaks

You will always find the latest Starcraft 3 news, leaks, and even some rumors below.

Starcraft 3 Release Date Window Speculation

At the time of writing, there is no official confirmed release date for X game, but below, you’ll find some speculation from Ginx on when we could see it launch.

First, let's take a look at the release dates of previous Starcraft titles in the table below.

There is no official release date for Starcraft 3, nor even a release date window to speak of. As you can see from the table above, previous releases also don't follow a clear pattern, making speculation difficult. 

If we had to make a guestimate, we don't think Starcraft 3 will release until at least 2026, if the game is in development.

Is Starcraft 3 in Development? Future of the Franchise

It is impossible to say right now if Starcraft 3 is actually in development, with nothing official from Blizzard to indicate what might be going on. However, we do know that paid content stopped in 2020.

Interestingly, Xbox head Phil Spencer had some things to say about the dormant Blizzard franchises. Remember, Microsoft will own the Starcraft franchise if the Activision Blizzard deal goes through.

In an interview with Wired back in November 2022, Phil Spencer, speaking about Age of Empires and getting asked about the Activision Blizzard deal, called Starcraft a "seminal moment in gaming" and how he was excited to sit down with the teams at Blizzard, Activision and King to talk about "back catalog and opportunities".  Check out the complete quote from the Wired interview below.

The first thing I would say is, I'm not allowed to make any decisions about what happens at Blizzard or Activision or King. So this is all just kind of talking and thinking about what the opportunity is, but you're absolutely right. Not only StarCraft, but WarCraft, when you think about the heritage of RTS games that we're talking about here, specifically from Blizzard. And I don't have any concrete plans today because I can't really get in and work with the teams. But StarCraft was a seminal moment in gaming, right? From an esports perspective, from RTS on console perspective, and from just an RTS storytelling perspective in the genre. 

And I'm excited about getting to sit down with the teams at Activision and Blizzard and King to talk about back catalog and opportunities that we might have. So I will dodge the question other than to say it's not something I can actively work on right now. But the thought of being able to think about what could happen with those franchises is pretty exciting to me, as somebody who spent a lot of hours playing those games.

Does this mean Starcraft 3 is in development? No. But it does mean there is a possibility for another entry into the franchise, especially with the praise given to Starcraft by Xbox's head, Phil Spencer.

Starcraft 3 Playable Races: A Fourth One Possible?

Since the original Starcraft, there have always been only three playable races: 

• Zerg
• Protoss
• Terran

For Starcraft 3, we believe this should stay the same, as balancing a fourth race perfectly for esports would be nearly impossible. There is, however, always a possibility that a new race will emerge, but at the time of writing, there are no details on a fourth Starcraft race.

Starcraft 3 Platforms: Are Consoles Possible?

The only thing we know for sure is that if there's a Starcraft 3, a proper next entry into the iconic franchise, it will definitely be available on PC.

As for consoles, historically, no Blizzard-developed RTS has made it to a console, with the exception of the original Starcraft on Nintendo 64. However, it is possible, if you look at the Halo Wars franchise, and if the Activision Blizzard/Microsoft deal goes through, who knows, maybe we will be playing Starcraft 3 on an Xbox in the future.

We will endeavor to update this article once any Starcraft 3 news or leaks become available. For now, all we can do is wait until Blizzard officially announces the third entry into what is, without a doubt, the best RTS franchise ever created.