The Challenges and Hopes of Reviving Blizzard's Real-Time Strategy Legacy

The return of the real-time strategy (RTS) genre has been a topic of interest for many gaming enthusiasts, especially when it comes to iconic franchises. Blizzard Entertainment, known for its stellar contributions to this genre, has been exploring the idea of reviving it with new projects. However, despite their efforts, it appears that bringing a new RTS to life has been quite challenging. Blizzard has not ventured into the RTS realm in some time, reportedly due to the lack of successful momentum.

Developers eager for a revival have pitched various concepts, including the much-anticipated Warcraft 4 and a unique Call of Duty variant, but these ideas did not materialize. According to insights shared during a Reddit session, there have been discussions within the company regarding the potential of returning to this genre. The last foray into real-time strategy by Blizzard, StarCraft 2, achieved success upon its release in 2010.

However, the following expansions did not perform as well as the company had hoped, leading to a shift in strategy where the game transitioned to a free-to-play model in 2017. While this move generated some interest, it didn't reach the heights achieved by phenomena like Overwatch or Hearthstone. Former Blizzard production director Tim Morten and his team reportedly felt a strong urge to revive the RTS genre, crafting numerous proposals that ranged from a new installment in the Warcraft series to an unconventional Call of Duty strategy game.

Unfortunately, these concepts did not garner support from the higher-ups in the company, stalling any real progress. The release of Warcraft 3: Reforged was anticipated to change Blizzard's fortunes, yet it instead resulted in significant backlash, marking a downturn for the company and becoming a noted misstep in its history. This disaster likely contributed to the reluctance of executives to invest in further RTS endeavors. As some developers, including Morten, departed around 2020 to work on their own RTS project named Stormgate, the future of a new Warcraft installment hangs in uncertainty.

With Microsoft's acquisition of Blizzard, there is speculation that the door may be opening for future RTS titles, especially given the popularity of strategy games such as Age of Empires and Age of Mythology Retold. Currently, reports suggest that Blizzard is in the development phase for a StarCraft shooter following the cancellation of two other RTS spin-offs, pointing to a dynamic shift in how the company is approaching strategy gameplay in the modern era.