StarCraft Online on the way?

By Ellie Gibson Published 31 January, 2008

NetEase lining up to operate it.

A new report on TradingMarkets.com suggests Blizzard is indeed developing StarCraft Online.

Apparently the game will be operated by Chinese firm NetEase, which is currently looking to break into the overseas market.

Blizzard has yet to confirm the existence of StarCraft Online, and declined to comment on the report when we got through this afternoon.

However, it did unveil StarCraft II in Korea last May, saying the game has been in development since 2003.

NetEase operates Fantasy Westward Journey in China, an internally developed MMORPG. The game had 25 million registered users in April 2005.

CEO Ding Li has said the company has not signed any contracts, but is seeking foreign partners for licensing and co-development deals.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (14) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Psi #1 4 years ago

    just tell us its being made you sneeky bastards

  • Benno #2 4 years ago

    world of starcraft would sound cheezy i guess

  • UncleLou #3 4 years ago

    Ooooh, how incredibly surprising. :)

  • seasidebaz #4 4 years ago

    @unclelou: i agree!

    it's something nobody would ever have predicted aaaaaaaaaaaages ago (in the very forum of this very site)

  • jambolio #5 4 years ago

    Worlds of Starcraft?

    now with added reason to charge for DLC

    Infact that could be even better all you do is split each region of wow into a small planetoid, give people a vulture and when they get to level 40 they get a small spacey ship. Have things like freighters for transport otherwise (like the Tram in WoW).

    Sorry trying to break the WoW habit, it wont be breaking the contract I signed.
    Edited by 2 at 31/01/08 @ 17:49

  • ciril #6 4 years ago

    At level 1 you hatch into a larva and do newbie quests near the Zerg Hatchery...

  • Xerx3s #7 4 years ago

    As long as they leave D3 alone with their filthy greedy mmo paws.

  • SeesThroughAll #8 4 years ago

    WTF, why is everybody dreaming about WoS already?
    Maybe NetEase is just going to handle the Starcraft 2 online component?

  • M83J01P97 #9 4 years ago

    I reckon they will do what they did with Warcract 3/World of Warcraft and set up a big story line in StarCraft 2 that will lead into an MMO.

  • Eraysor #10 4 years ago

    If they do this my brain will explode. WoW in space is pretty much heaven.

  • neuroniky #11 4 years ago

    I just hope they make a MMO RTS instead... that would be ace.

  • xAx #12 4 years ago

    Hello warrior! I need you to deliver this bag of eggs to the Zerglands

    You will recieve 30 credits

    Accept / Decline

  • Guv #13 4 years ago

    So gonna be a zergling...

  • steviepunk #14 4 years ago

    At this stage is it not more likely that 'Starcraft Online' simply refers to the online part of Starcraft2?

    With the subscription model having so much profit potential, they are probably going down the same route as Hellgate London, with a subscription for the online part of the game being available that will entitle you to new content, etc.

    With Asia being so fanatical about Starcraft, why just stop at selling them a game for £50 (for example) when they could easily get another £10 a month out of them? Same in the west.


    not that a Starcraft MMO is unlikely, I just don't see it happening so soon that it would be showing up in the financial reports just yet.
    Edited by 1 at 01/02/08 @ 13:47