Blizzard confirmed a new StarCraft game on stage at BlizzCon 2026, and the trailer that followed ended on a 2030 window. Dan Hay told a personal story before naming the game, brought his team out, and played a cinematic trailer that closed on a logo card reading only “StarCraft” and an end card reading “Returns 2030”.
What Dan Hay said
“28 years ago, I saw a very specific Blizzard cinematic, and it changed the course of my life,” Hay said. He sent Blizzard a demo reel, was turned down, and spent 25 years making games elsewhere before the studio called. “This time, there was a mission to assemble a team worthy of carrying the legacy of one of Blizzard’s most beloved games.”
“Team, meet the world. World, meet the team,” Hay said, and the broadcast cut to a wide shot of the hall. No names, roles, or studio name appeared on screen. According to the stream’s transcript he then called the project “something new. An open world shooter where every step is heard, not from above.” He went on: “We are here to stand on the ground, in the mud, in the fire, honoring the past, its tone, its truth, but with an opportunity to push beyond it.” Then: “We are here to make StarCraft! And let’s be honest, it’s about damn time.”
What the trailer showed
The trailer is cinematic throughout; nothing in it is presented as gameplay. It follows a young recruit, first in ranks of recruits in dark uniforms, then doing push-ups in a hangar with a planet visible through the bay door. A voice-over says “The swarm have returned,” warns that the “firstborn” judge “from the shadows,” asks “Will you flee? Or will you fight?” and calls the recruits “the best and brightest the Dominion has to offer.”
Outside, red-hulled transports cross a muddy green plain while dropships hover on thrusters, a battlefield burns, and a clawed creature lunges at the camera. The recruit is fitted into red powered armor, the domed-visor marine suit, and an older marine in the same armor looks straight into the camera.
The final shots show a vast bay of armor stations with dozens of marines suiting up, and the voice-over closes: “You will become more than just soldiers. You will become heroes.”
The two cards
The logo card reads only “StarCraft” in glowing blue letters, with no numeral or subtitle.
The end card reads “Returns 2030” over a StarCraft.com address. That is the only date Blizzard gave.
What is still unknown
The game has no title beyond “StarCraft”, and no platforms appeared on either card or in the trailer. Hay’s “open world shooter” line is the only description of the genre, spoken once, with no gameplay to back it. Windows Central had reported, citing Jason Schreier, an open world StarCraft shooter led by Hay; the segment fits that report, but the trailer shows no perspective or play. No studio name was given.