The Daily Populous Tuesday April 29th, 2025 evening edition
Authored by thephrasemaker.com and submitted by Crandin

At this point, Blizzard could announce a toaster that plays Diablo and we’d all just shrug and ask when the beta drops. But the latest reports out of Korea suggest something even stranger: Overwatch 3 is real — and it’s a mobile game.

According to a report from MTN, Blizzard Entertainment is officially teaming up with Nexon, the Korean mega-publisher best known for free-to-play shooters like The Finals and mobile everything. The two companies are reportedly working on two major projects: the long-rumored Overwatch Mobile port, and a brand-new Starcraft game. If the information is accurate, Nexon isn’t just publishing Overwatch Mobile worldwide — they’re co-developing it.

And here’s the kicker: internally at Blizzard, this mobile port isn’t just called “Overwatch Mobile.” It’s being referred to as Overwatch 3.

It’s almost poetic when you think about it. Blizzard once spent literal decades releasing painstakingly polished games at glacial speed. Now, after the Overwatch 2 launch turned the world’s most beloved hero shooter into a live-service scramble for skins and battle passes, the studio seems hungry to move even faster — and mobile is the obvious shortcut.

Blizzard’s package deal for Korean publishers reportedly offered the Korean and Japanese service rights for Overwatch Mobile plus development rights to the Starcraft IP. It’s a power move that makes one thing clear: Blizzard’s new strategy is outsourcing. If you can’t ship on time, let someone else do it.

Meanwhile, Starcraft — the beloved, long-dormant franchise that once reigned supreme in Korean esports — is also getting a comeback, just… not the one fans probably imagined. Instead of a classic RTS sequel, Blizzard’s new Starcraft game appears to be an open-world shooter. Job listings from Blizzard have been name-dropping “open-world” and “shooter mechanics” for months, and now we know why.

Starcraft is no longer about resource management and Zerg rushes. It’s probably about loot drops and traversal mechanics now. Let that sink in.

It’s worth remembering that Blizzard has had an exceptional track record of canceling ambitious projects: Starcraft: Ghost got the axe. Project Titan became Overwatch only after years in development hell. Given that, even hearing about a new Starcraft is risky optimism.

At least Diablo fans can sleep at night — sort of. Blizzard reportedly has a 10-year roadmap to keep Diablo 4 alive until 2035, and whispers about Diablo 5 are already starting. (Whether that roadmap is actually exciting is another conversation, considering the lukewarm reaction to Blizzard’s recently revealed plans.)

In short, Blizzard today looks less like the mythical titan of old and more like a studio scrambling for relevance across mobile platforms, free-to-play models, and faster shipping deadlines. Overwatch 3 being a mobile game isn’t surprising. It’s just the latest plot twist in a saga where nothing is sacred and everything is market-tested.

Now the only real question is: will you still line up to play it?

mighty_mag on April 28th, 2025 at 23:25 UTC »

I'm fine with a StarCraft shooter, not with StarCraft being a shooter.

Overwatch... I don't care anymore, sadly. Make it mobile, or whatever. I feel the game has half mobile DNA anyway.

WolfofDunwall on April 28th, 2025 at 14:49 UTC »

I think Blizzard might be the masters at squandering beloved franchises and player goodwill.

Billybobgeorge on April 28th, 2025 at 14:12 UTC »

Finally, after 20 years, we're getting Ghost