StarCraft's Open-World Shooter Is Already Dodging the Live-Service Trap Sci-Fi FPS Games Keep Falling Into

Though the road ahead for Blizzard's long-dormant sci-fi franchise is still quite long given the 2030 release target, it is no less exciting that StarCraft is officially back. It's a bold return, too—ditching the series' staple bird's-eye RTS view for an open-world FPS, dropping players into the Koprulu Sector a full 70 years after StarCraft 2. But what might take the cake in pure shock value is what StarCraftis already refusing to become: GM and creative director Dan Hay have described it as a boxed, story-driven game with a definitive ending, rather than a seasonal live-service product. It's almost hard to believe.