Phil Spencer ‘excited’ on the thought of extra StarCraft
On: November 7, 2022
Phil Spencer hasn’t been shy about the potential for resurrecting Activision-Blizzard’s outdated library of video games if the acquisition goes by. A type of might presumably be beloved RTS StarCraft, one thing which Spencer appears fairly enthusiastic about.
The Xbox boss sat down with Wired to speak about Age of Empire’s twenty fifth anniversary, and the collection’ foray onto console—which has additionally meant controller assist and crossplay integration for us PC gamers. When requested about bringing again Activision-Blizzard’s personal RTS collection, Spencer expressed curiosity in doing so. He acknowledged how a lot the game meant to individuals and what it did for the style, calling it a “seminal second in gaming.”
“Not solely StarCraft, however WarCraft, when you concentrate on the heritage of RTS video games that we’re speaking about right here, particularly from Blizzard,” he stated. “And I haven’t got any concrete plans at the moment as a result of I can not actually get in and work with the groups. However StarCraft was a seminal second in gaming, right?”
(Picture credit score: Blizzard)
Spencer clarified that he could not actually put definites on something but, however stated he’s “enthusiastic about getting to take a seat down with the groups and Activision and Blizzard and King to speak about again catalogue and alternatives that we’d have.”
He continued: “It isn’t one thing I can actively work on at once. However the thought of having the ability to consider what might occur with these franchises is fairly thrilling to me, as any person who has spent a number of hours enjoying these video games.”
So appears to be like we will formally add StarCraft to the checklist of ‘video games Phil Spencer needs to deliver again’. The way in which Spencer’s speaking you’d suppose that it is a long-dormant franchise, however Starcraft II launched in three components over 2010-2015 and nonetheless helps an esports scene, albeit not being anyplace close to as massive because it was. There was additionally Starcraft Remastered in 2017 and, whereas Blizzard’s by no means talked particularly about the way forward for the collection, it is all the time appeared inevitable {that a} Starcraft 3 would occur sooner or later.
This sort of spitballing has been par for the course ever since Microsoft introduced the proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Earlier this 12 months, Spencer expressed curiosity in a handful of different Activision-Blizzard video games, saying he wished to deliver again those he cherished as a baby. He particularly talked about King’s Quest, Guitar Hero and Hexen—I actually would not be mad at seeing a few of these making a comeback. It is good to see Spencer speaking about video games that are not simply Name of Responsibility, although that is to not say he hasn’t bickered with PlayStation’s Jim Ryan over it.
