Katsuhiro Harada, former leader of the Tekken franchise, is finally revealing some details about his next game currently in the works at his independent development house, VS Studio.
Harada famously exited Bandai Namco earlier this year, leaving his decades-long post at the company as Tekken’s guiding force to make his own studio. A subsidiary of SNK, VS Studio has been slowly building its ranks over the last few months, snagging several former members of Tekken’s key development staff.
And while he’s been pretty quiet about what exactly VS Studio is cooking up, he shed some light on its current projects in a September 2026 interview with VideoGamesChronicle, and it’s tentatively looking like good news for fans of his previous games.
When asked if VS Studio’s next game would be a fighting game, or if the development house aims to be a “genre-agnostic” company, Harada had this to say: “What I can say is that there are some members who I have worked with in the past who have joined the company, but this is purely voluntary.
“...the title that we are creating has not been disclosed, but as I said earlier, I don’t want to betray our fans’ expectations. The game that we’re developing will be some kind of surprise, but rest assured, it is not something that is outside of expectations,” he answered.
While this statement doesn’t affirm anything, it does point to the fact that Harada is making something that is at least somewhat in the realm of what fans are expecting — and that, to us, sounds a lot like a fighting game. (It's also worth noting that Harada himself said he wanted to develop a new fighting game in an interview with Den-fami Nico Gamer after the news of VS Studio was first announced.) Whether it’s a totally new IP or a new installment of an existing franchise remains to be seen, but SNK’s chief publishing officer, Ozan Kocoglu, says VS Studio isn’t opposed to both making original titles and expanding on their previous works.
“I think it can be both. I don’t think we should be limited to one road or the other. I think Harada-san can bring a wealth of experience into supporting our existing IPs in growing in a different way, or going to the next stage alongside people like Oda-san. But at the same time, as SNK is growing to become much bigger and a new company, we also need fresh ideas,” he said.
“We also need to build new IP pillars that, you know, he could be working on, so that they can actually enrich the SNK portfolio beyond what we have. I definitely see Harada-san being able to do both, and it will depend on what he wants to do and how, and especially on which IP he could collaborate on with some of our development leads in the future.”
Kocoglu revealed that SNK is in a period of “aggressive growth,” saying the company needs a “fresh perspective” in order to keep moving forward. He also sees “no reason” why VS Studio should be a “one-off” for SNK, calling Harada a “great addition in terms of DNA with what we’ve been building so far.”
“But do we want to stop at only VS Studio? I don’t think that’s the idea. I think it’s going to be, okay, what are the new opportunities we can find in the market? How do we want to grow as a company? Personally, I think SNK has a strong DNA in action-related games. So anyone who makes an action-related project could potentially join us in the future on a case-by-case basis,” he added.
Harada went on to say that VS Studio has a “very high level of freedom,” and that while the team can “create anything we want,” they’re still beholden to what fans and players expect of them.
“What I want to protect is what I’m good at, as well as meet the expectations that my fans have. On top of that, I also want to collaborate with SNK. We can share the video game expertise that we have and enhance our strengths for both of us in terms of the ways to create video games. So, focusing on what I’m good at, keeping in mind player expectations as well, and having close collaboration with SNK,” he said.
Harada also opened up about his thoughts on the future of the Tekken franchise now that he’s left Bandai Namco, revealing that he’s been mentoring existing members of its staff while he works to grow VS Studio.
“I have no knowledge of what Tekken has in store after my departure, so I think it would be great if you could all reach out to Bandai Namco. For now, I can only speculate, like how fans are speculating as well. But one thing I can say is that I have been working hard to mentor the team members of Tekken, and I can guarantee that the members who are still working on it have evolved and grown. So I’m looking forward to the future of Tekken as a fan.”
Tekken 8, it seems, is joining the ranks of other mainline fighting games who are adding wildcard guest characters to their rosters, with Baki's Yujiro Hanma set to join the fight in early 2027. We got the chance to interview Tekken series chief producer Naoya Yasuda about why the team chose this character and how in the world they plan on balancing the game around the 'strongest man on earth' when he finally drops next year.
Image Credits: SIA KAMBOU/AFP via Getty Images
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Beginning its life as a Shin Megami Tensei spin-off, the Persona series has become one of the biggest names in modern RPGs. From multiple major sequels and remakes to anime adaptations and even stage plays, Persona is a multimedia sensation, and its popularity doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
With the official announcement of both Persona 4 RevivalandPersona 6, new players are probably wondering where’s the best place to start. Below, we’ll give you a full rundown of every game and spin-off, including the best entry point for newcomers and both the chronological and release order of the series.
In total, there are currently 21 Persona games. Several of these are expanded versions of the mainline entries in the series, whether that’s in the form of re-releases featuring new story content or remakes. While we won’t include direct ports or remasters, we’ll make sure to note every alternate version of each game when listing them below.
Which Persona Game Should You Play First?
If you're looking for the perfect place to start, you can’t really go wrong jumping into Persona 3 Reload or Persona 5 Royal. They’re the latest versions of the third and fifth mainline entries in the series, and are available on PC and every major console.
For those concerned about skipping the story by jumping into later entries in the series, you won’t miss anything by going straight to Persona 3, 4, or 5. Each game tells an entirely new story with original characters that’s largely disconnected from its predecessors, so they’re great launching points for those coming in fresh. To narrow your choices down, I'd recommend taking a look at some gameplay videos, social links, and even the soundtracks across each game to see what "stands out" to you.
Every Persona Game and Spin-Off in Chronological Order
These blurbs contain mild spoilers for each game, including characters, settings, and story beats.
1. Revelations: Persona (1996)
The first game in the series, Revelations: Persona was Atlus’ reaction to the positive reception of Shin Megami Tensei: If…, which was another Shin Megami Tensei spin-off centered around high-schoolers battling demons. Capitalizing on how much players enjoyed the central concept, Revelations: Persona offered a full dungeon-crawling RPG centered around a group of high schoolers battling a supernatural uprising throughout the town of Mikage-cho.
Along the way, they use the powers of their awakened Personas to take down shadows and explore dungeons filled with random encounters, leveling up their party and growing stronger over the course of the game. Revelations: Persona was the foundation of the franchise as we know it today, introducing elements like wielding Personas in combat, the Velvet Room and a teenage cast of heroes.
2. Persona 2: Innocent Sin (1999)
The second entry in the Persona series, Persona 2: Innocent Sin launched in 1999. The game follows a new set of high-school students led by protagonist Tatsuya Suou, who set out on a mission to take down a mysterious villain known as Joker and the cult of the Masked Circle.
Centring around an evil plot where malicious rumors spreading around the town of Sumaru come to life, Persona 2 once again focuses on exploring dungeons, wielding Personas, fighting shadows and leveling up your party. Unlike other entries in the series, it received a direct sequel just a year later, with Persona 2: Eternal Punishment acting as a continuation of the game's story.
Following up the events of Innocent Sin, Eternal Punishment promoted side character, Maya Amano, to the protagonist role. Sent to write an article about a new rumor regarding a phenomenon known as the Joker Curse, the game quickly sees Maya and her allies rally against a returning foe.
Acting as a direct continuation of Innocent Sin's story, it centers on the same style of turn-based, dungeon-crawling gameplay, as players build their party and wield their Personas to battle shadows.
4. Persona 3 (2006) / Persona 3 FES (2007) / Persona 3 Portable (2009) / Persona 3 Reload (2024)
The third mainline entry in the franchise, Persona 3 was a major evolution of the Persona formula. Opting to focus on its high-school premise, Persona 3 introduced a daily calendar, with one half of the game tasking players with attending school, developing friendships and studying, while the other sent them to fight shadows in the supernatural realm of Tartarus.
The story focuses on high school student Makoto Yuki, who finds he's able to experience a mysterious space of time known as the Dark Hour, where regular people are trapped in coffins and a demonic tower sprouts from his school. Teaming with his classmates, he explores the tower, uncovering a sinister plot that threatens the entire world. Persona 3 is considered a landmark entry for the series, introducing social links, day-to-day activities and many other mechanics that have since become synonymous with the franchise.
A rhythm-based dancing spin-off of Persona 3 that takes place during the main campaign, Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight sees Elizabeth challenge the S.E.E.S team to a dance-off in the Velvet Room. The events of the game are set during a dream but are completely canon to the story, and follow the team performing various dance routines to iconic Persona 3 tracks.
6. Persona 4 (2008) / Persona 4 Golden (2012)
The fourth mainline entry in the Persona series, Persona 4 takes place in the rural town of Inaba. Players assume the role of Yu Narukami: a high schooler from the city who moves to the country to live with his uncle and cousin for a year. After arriving, a string of violent murders begin to take place in the town, as Yu and his friends quickly discover they’re somehow linked to a mysterious otherworldly realm they can access by stepping through TV monitors.
Delving into this mysterious new world, Yu and his friends face supernatural forces as they learn more about the murders, using their powers to try and stop them. Building off the mechanics of Persona 3, Persona 4 once again utilizes the calendar system, as players build social links and attend school while also exploring vast dungeons and defeating enemies with their Personas.
Technically taking place during the Persona 3 and Persona 4 storylines simultaneously, Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth is a crossover between both games. During the typhoon segment of Persona 3 and the Culture Festival segment of Persona 4, the S.E.E.S team and the Investigation Squad are trapped inside a warped version of Yasogami High School.
The time-bending event sees both teams come together to investigate the strange occurrence and escape back to their respective spots on the timeline. Along the way, players explore a labyrinth filled with new enemies and uncover an original story, with the spin-off acting as a callback to the series’ more traditional dungeon-crawler roots.
A continuation of both Persona 3 and 4’s narratives and the franchise’s first major spin-off, Persona 4 Arena sees Yu Narukami return to Inaba and stumble into a new adventure, as he returns to the TV world for a mysterious fighting tournament. Forced to battle against his allies and a group known as the Shadow Operatives, which is comprised of Persona 3's Mitsuru, Akihiko and Aigis, Arena offers a full fighting game boasting a roster of iconic Persona characters.
A year following the release of Persona 4 Arena, the spin-off received a sequel titled Persona 4 Arena Ultimax. Taking place directly after the events of the first game, the Persona 4 squad teams up with the Shadow Operatives to return to the TV World and battle against the mysterious forces running the fighting tournament. Ultimax was ultimately an upgrade for the first game, bringing in an expanded roster including returning characters like Yukari, Junpei, Ken and Koromaru.
The fourth and arguably most unexpected spin-off of Persona 4, Persona 4: Dancing All Night is a rhythm-based dancing game where the Investigation Squad performs routines to iconic Persona tracks. It offers a completely canon continuation of the storyline, following Yu and the team as they’re sucked into an alternate dimension known as the Midnight Stage.
The fifth mainline entry in the series, Persona 5 hit shelves in Japan in 2016 before launching worldwide in 2017. Taking players to Tokyo, it casts them as a new protagonist known as Joker, who finds himself on probation after being framed for a crime he didn’t commit. Attending the local high school, Joker and his friends discover a supernatural alternate dimension, which allows them to infiltrate mystical palaces and change the hearts of evil-doers around the city.
Before long, the group becomes notorious on the streets of Tokyo, going under the alias of the Phantom Thieves. The game builds heavily off the formula established by Persona 3 and 4, including massive story-focused levels that unfold over a month, the return of the negotiation system and a new dungeon system known as Mementos. Persona 5 launched the franchise into the stratosphere, quickly becoming Atlus' best-selling game of all time and cultivating a huge fan base.
A sequel to Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, New Cinema Labyrinth once again depicts a crossover between various Persona characters. After the Phantom Thieves find themselves trapped in a movie theater, they ally with Persona 3's S.E.E.S team and Persona 4's Investigation Squad to find an escape, traveling into the movies on the screen in an attempt to fix their endings.
Much like the original game, Persona Q2 simultaneously takes place during the Persona 3, 4 and 5 storylines, with the adventure pulling each group out of their respective timeline. There, they explore dungeons from a first-person perspective and fight turn-based battles against various enemies.
13. Persona 5 Tactica (2023)
Taking place during the events of Persona 5, Persona 5 Tactica is a strategy-focused spin-off that’s similar in style to the XCOM franchise. The story follows the Phantom Thieves mysteriously traveling to an alternate realm known as the Kingdoms. Unable to escape, Joker and Morgana are forced to abandon the rest of the Phantom Thieves after they're brainwashed by the realm's monstrous ruler, Tyrant Marie, forcing the pair to begin an adventure to save their allies and return home.
Along the way, they team up with the local resistance, helping them fight against Tyrant Marie's forces. The game revolves around a tactical grid-based combat system, as players direct three units across the battlefield and take out enemies.
Atlus’ third rhythm-based dancing spin-off, Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight sees Caroline and Justine bring the Phantom Thieves to the Velvet Room and challenge them to a dance off. There, the group perform dance routines to several of Persona 5's catchiest tracks.
15. Persona 5 Strikers (2020)
A spin-off set four months after the events of Persona 5, Strikers sees the Phantom Thieves reunite for a summer vacation. However, the team find themselves sucked into the Metaverse after using an app known as EMMA. Escaping with the help of a new ally, the team don their Phantom Thieves gear once more and set out to discover the truth behind EMMA, the Metaverse, and what it means for the people of Tokyo.
Persona 5 Strikers is a crossover with the long-running Dynasty Warriors franchise, introducing real-time combat to the series. Battles center around the Phantom Thieves taking on large hordes of enemies, which they can deal with through combos or by calling on Personas.
The most recent Persona release is yet another spin-off of Persona 5. This one's a bit funky. Developed by Black Wings Game Studio, Persona 5: The Phantom X is a free-to-play game with microtransactions (otherwise known as a gacha gama) that takes place in 'alternate timeline' to Persona 5 itself. You take on the role of Wonder, a high school student who, of course, awakens his Persona and gains access to the Metaverse.
After the massive success of Metaphor: ReFantazio (it picked up quite a few awards), Sega announced their desire to keep investing in Atlus, and the Persona IP in particular, in a developers' Q&A session.
Persona 4 Revival was announced at a the 2025 Xbox Showcase, a new remake of the game that originally released on PS2 in 2008 before being remastered as Persona 4 Golden in 2012. The remake is scheduled for release on February 18, 2027, and will be available Day One on Xbox Game Pass.
That's not all. We finally have confirmation that Persona 6 is real. A short teaser gives us a glimpse at least at some cool aesthetics in classic Atlus style, and there's no word on a release date. But it's real! Here's a breakdown of everything we know so far, which includes, in classic Atlus fashion, some good ol' leaks.
In the meantime, the Phantom Thieves from P5R continue to pop up in pretty much every franchising opportunity they can, most recently as skins in Overwatch 2. Outside of games, Netflix has confirmed development on a live-action Persona TV show. Interesting, I know.
Callum Williams is a freelance media writer with years of experience as a game critic, news reporter, guides writer and features writer.
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Netflix has announced three Sega video game adaptations: a live-action comedy Crazy Taxi movie, a new Sonic animated series, and a live-action movie adaptation of RGG Studio's yet to be released Stranger Than Heaven.
The Crazy Taxi movie is described as ‘live-action comedy,' and the Stranger Than Heaven adaptation is 'live-action crime.’ The new Sonic animation is obviously for kids.
Crazy Taxi comes first. It’s written by Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, the duo behind the 2025 reboot of The Naked Gun. Neal H. Moritz, Toby Ascher, and Toru Nakahara, the producers behind the Sonic franchise, are on board to produce.
“Great games already have what every adaptation is chasing — characters people love, worlds they know by heart, and fandoms that show up,” commented Brandon Riegg, VP of Nonfiction and Transmedia at Netflix. “With Crazy Taxi, Sonic, and Stranger Than Heaven, we get to work across three completely different eras of Sega’s catalog, celebrating everything fans love, while introducing them to new audiences.”
Shuji Utsumi, President and COO of Sega, added: "We've watched Netflix take on stories across every kind of format and treat each one with real craft, and seeing that same dedication applied to Sonic, Crazy Taxi, and Stranger Than Heaven is something we at Sega are incredibly proud to be a part of. The fandoms of these games deserve storytelling that honors what makes each title special, and we know Netflix shares that commitment. This is just the start of what these titles can become."
Toru Nakahara, Head Producer at Sega, told fans to expect “something cute yet cool” for Sonic, something “hilariously crazy” for Crazy Taxi, and a “badass action drama” for Stranger Than Heaven. Moritz and Ascher said of Crazy Taxi: “This film is for anyone who’s spent hours behind the wheel of a yellow cab on their Dreamcast, with the music cranked up, smashing through everything in sight just to make the next fare.”
Here’s the official blurb on Sonic:
The new animated series, currently in development with Carlos Stevens and Toru Nakahara, will present Sonic and his friends as heroes for an upper pre-school audience — a high-voltage, comedic, yet emotionally grounded series built for kids who want to feel a little edge, a little attitude, and a lot of “that’s my crew” wish fulfillment. Three seasons of Netflix’s Sonic Prime are also now available to stream only on Netflix.
And here’s the official line on Stranger Than Heaven:
From RGG Studio — developer of the Like a Dragon / Yakuza series — Stranger Than Heaven takes place in early 20th-century Japan, following a foreigner who claws his way from destitute stranger to feared yakuza to entertainment tycoon. Against the backdrop of a changing nation, how will he build an empire while balancing honor and betrayal? Details are under wraps, but a live-action film will bring a new lens to this epic world and franchise.
Netflix is all in on video game adaptations, and there’s a lot in the works. It’s got a live-action Assassin's Creed series, live-action Gears of War film, animated series adaptations based on Minecraft, Magic: The Gathering, and Clash of Clans, and Overcooked competition series; second seasons of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and Splinter Cell: Deathwatch; and the third and final season of Devil May Cry. At BlizzCon 2026 over the weekend, Blizzard announced a Diablo animated series for Netflix, with talks ongoing for adaptations of Overwatch and Warcraft.
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You heard it here first, folks: Tracer is still the face of Overwatch, despite not being featured in many major collaborations or promotional materials as of late.
We got the chance to sit down with the minds behind Overwatch at Blizzcon 2026 to discuss the game’s newest support hero, Doctrine, and the future of the franchise — as well as grill them about Tracer’s role as its supposed mascot.
When you think about Overwatch, you probably think of Tracer. She was essentially the star of the show when the game first launched in 2016, and was consistently featured in marketing materials, merchandise, advertisements, and more. Her iconic silhouette and speedy abilities were inescapable back then… but now, not so much.
We directly asked Overwatch’s Lead Hero Producer Kenny Hudson, as well as art director Dion Rogers, if Tracer is still the mascot of the game — or if she was ever really considered its mascot, at all.
Their answer was firm and decisive: Tracer is, and always was, the mascot of Overwatch.
“Tracer is still the mascot for Overwatch. Very much. ‘Tracer orange’ is a quote that the team uses all the time. The little cheeto on top of the sigil is orange. She’s still that girl,” Rogers told us.
Overwatch just got a brand-new support hero in Doctrine, a vampire-inspired character who has a long history with Doomfist. No, he’s not an actual vampire, but that motif was a key part of his design from the very beginning, says Rogers.
“The idea came from our lead narrative designer, Miranda Moyer, who actually asked the question of, ‘What would a vampire look like in the Overwatch universe?’ We always do our best work on heroes when we get a really cool theme to rally around, and ‘vampire’ just got the brain juices flowing on everything from kit, to concept, to art,” he explained.
“This one was fun, because with Hero 54, we’ve hit all the archetypes like cowboy, knight, ninja. Once we thought about the vampire, we were like, ‘Yeah, let’s lean into it and see if we can make a hero out of this,’” Hudson added.
“He’s still a scientist or a mechanical engineer, even his cape still feels like a lab coat from the sciency part of him. …we started him off as a scientist, a typical guy, lab coat, glasses. Sometimes it takes a team saying when they see an image, ‘That’s the hero.’ He didn’t quite feel like it yet. But we took the vampire thing that Miranda mentioned, we applied that, and he actually started to feel like a hero. You can see a theme, you can see a fantasy, you can see an archetype. Making him hail from Zimbabwe, Africa, gives him that immediate heritage and connection to Doomfist. He worked for Doomfist’s family at some point in his life, and helped build arms for Doomfist, so it made sense that he would reach out to him to get his arm back.”
Doctrine is the nearly the last of 10 characters who have come to Overwatch this year. With so much content dropping into the game in 2026, we had to ask about what peaks are left for Overwatch to climb, and what’s in the pipeline next.
“There’s always room for more heroes,” Rogers said. “There’s a lot more we’re cooking.”
“It’s not so much about hitting the targets we’ve already hit, but setting new ones and seeing where we can take it,” Hudson added. “We’re really excited with all the team has learned over the last couple of years to be able to really push ourselves into new territory and evolve in new, interesting ways.”
Doctrine was one of several massive announcements shown off at Blizzcon this year, and there's still more to come; Hero 55 was also teased this weekend, and he's a suave-looking Omnic who fans are already itching to play. You can out our recap blog for full breakdown of everything revealed, as well as our interview with the team behind the upcoming StarCraft open-world shooter coming in 2030.
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World of Warcraft: Forever, a Classic+ iteration of the long-running franchise that lets players return to an updated vanilla Azeroth featuring new zones, dungeons, raids, and more, was announced at yesterday’s BlizzCon 2026 Opening Ceremony. And now, the game’s developers are revealing why they think the new take on the classic game (along with the numerous other WoW updates announced yesterday) renders the long-speculated World of Warcraft 2 unnecessary.
I sat down with Kris Zierhut, World of Warcraft: Forever’s Principal Designer, and Mike Nuthals, the game’s Lead Encounter Designer, immediately following yesterday’s announcement to break down the game’s many new features and to discuss why they think it’s even better than any potential WoW sequel.
“I think one of the things that's singularly great about WoW is we have this game and this world and this design that has been continuously developed for the last 25 years,” Zierhut says. “And we keep making it better. We made the graphics better, we made the rendering better, we made the lighting better; all that new stuff we showed on stage today.
“But we've also made the way the engine draws things move more efficiently. The way the server runs, handling players and moving them around, and all the things that handle spells and combat, all of that's been made more efficient and better over the years. We have this incredible engine and server infrastructure driving the game that is second to none. Why would you throw that away and start over?”
Zierhut went on to say that, in addition to the technical advancements in World of Warcraft: Forever, the team is still invested in building the story of the current WoW universe.
“It’s not like there's something wrong with the story,” Zierhut says. “We love the story. So going back to the beginning [with World of Warcraft: Forever], there's a chance to explore that story in new and different ways. So it's really hard to say, ‘Well, what would a WoW 2 give you that World of Warcraft: Forever isn't already giving you?’”
As revealed on stage yesterday, World of Warcraft: Forever won’t merely be a rehashed update of the original. In addition to “updated world visuals and lighting,” the game will feature 10 and 20-player raids, more than 1,000 new quests, new race and class combos, a new Skyborne race, and more. Nuthals and Zierhut say there are a few key features they’re most eager for fans to experience.
“I'm so excited for our players to uncover all of our new items,” Nuthals says. “All of the dungeons and raids have had an itemization pass. There's so much new to explore. I'm really anxious for our players to get in there and explore the world, find all the cool little nooks and crannies, find their really cool loot and just have a great time.
[And] the thing I think I'm most excited about with our raids are the raid sizes. We're going to have Barrow Deeps which will be our 10-player raid. We're going to have the Hyjal Summit, which will be 20, and then Onyxia will be 40. I think the thing that gets me most excited about that is getting folks to find social groups and friends to fill those groups up.”
World of Warcraft: Forever's New Camping Feature Explained
“The thing I'm most excited about is the camping feature,” Zierhut says. “So you may remember in World of Warcraft in the past, you could put down a cooking fire and you could sit and cook your food. The cooking fire has now become the basic campfire. And while you're sitting there waiting, because you have to sit there for a minute, another player [could walk] by and they add to it. And now you are [all] there and you’ve got to wait a minute you're like, ‘Hey, what quest are you working on? Oh, we’re working on the same quest. Hey, how about we group up?’ And that's the moment the friendships, relationships, and guilds are born. And I'm really excited about what that's going to do for our game.”
While World of Warcraft: Forever will include many new updates for players to explore, Zierhut and Nuthals say it won’t stray too far from what players love about the original.
“We're not going to make massive changes to the lore,” Zierhut says. “We're not going to change the way the world feels, but we can maybe have a slightly different sequence of what's happening. It doesn't contradict what was in Classic, but it's a little bit different. So we have room for a slightly different story. Nobody has to worry about problems with the timeline.”
“Our pillars are very universal, core to the experience of playing Classic WoW,” Nuthals says. “That’s always what we're thinking of in the back of our head. It's exhilarating to see what our players are going to do when they get into it and play it.”
World of Warcraft: Forever launches November 4.
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It’s been over 15 years since Blizzard’s beloved real-time strategy game, StarCraft 2, came out. Now, a new game in the series has been announced — but it’s still years away.
Revealed at BlizzCon 2026, the simply named StarCraft is the next title in the sci-fi franchise, and it’s going to look markedly different from its predecessors.
In fact, it’s a completely different genre. StarCraft is an open-world shooter, and it’s due out in 2030. While this distant launch window makes it hard to get too excited about StarCraft just yet, Blizzard has a history of announcing games far before they're ready for the public to play. In fact, it’s something the company behind Warcraft, Diablo, and Overwatch is notorious for doing, historically touting the mantra: “It’ll be ready when it’s ready.”
The announcement of a new StarCraft game was expected at BlizzCon, after the official StarCraft website became rife with visual ‘glitches,’ and issued a ‘warning’ telling users their device has been “compromised.” Fans took this to mean that a big update for the franchise was on the horizon, and they were right.
Indeed, rumors of a StarCraft shooter had been circling for years. In 2024, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier told IGN’s Podcast Unlocked about Blizzard’s third attempt at developing a StarCraft shooter with former Far Cry executive producer Dan Hay, who joined Blizzard in 2022, leading the charge. Then, later in 2024, a job posting was listed for an ‘upcoming open-world shooter’ that fans were certain was tied to this StarCraft game.
Blizzard has had a tough time developing StarCraft shooters over the years. StarCraft Ghost, announced in 2002, was going to be a tactical-action console game in which you played as a deadly Ghost operative in the employ of the Dominion, but it was canceled in 2006 after a series of delays.
A second attempt to make a StarCraft shooter, codenamed Ares, was canceled in 2019 so Blizzard could focus on Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2. Ares was reportedly “like Battlefield in the StarCraft universe,” but, like Ghost, fell by the wayside.
Now, it’s a case of third time lucky for Blizzard with this new StarCraft shooter in development. Check out everything announced at BlizzCon 2026 for all the news from across Blizzard.
Developing…
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Borderlands 4 is climbing Steam charts as players fall head over heels for its new DLC character – a Vault Hunter named Loveless the Hacker.
Gearbox Software's latest Borderlands game struggled in the months following its September 2025 launch. Despite delivering the looter shooter series' biggest launch ever, technical issues across PC and console, as well as Gearbox's handling of the situation, were immediately followed by a steep decline in players, with SteamDB recording numbers that have struggled to break 10,000 concurrent users since January of this year.
Borderlands 4 might have launched to generally favorable reviews (IGN gave it an 8/10), but it's struggled to recapture player interest – until now. Friday, September 10, saw the release of Loveless the Hacker, a DLC character with high-end cybernetics. She's only a small part of a grander Story Pack 2 release, and she seems to be giving the game a second wind.
"Two minds exist inside Loveless, forming a synchronized set of lethal skills that strike as one," a description for Loveless says. "Through a symbiotic melding of the biological and digital, this ex-Anshin hacker-turned-assassin has become a superior lifeform. Equipped with the highest-end cybernetics, Loveless shares her psyche with a digital virus of her own creation, which can digistruct into a physical Wyrm form to act as a deadly extension of her shared, perfection-seeking will."
At the time of this story's publication, Borderlands 4 is enjoying around 26,000 concurrent players on Steam alone. That's the most it's had since November 2025, and far higher than the 17,000-player peak it reached with the launch of Story Pack 1 in March. The base game has also now managed to round out the Top 5 sellers on Steam in the U.S., and it's even come in at nine in the Top 10 global list.
Player counts also appear to be climbing even further, with those in its Steam reviews section specifically calling attention to Loveless as the reason they've decided to return to the planet Kairos. Many refer to voice acting from actress Carin Gilfry as a specific positive, but you can probably guess what a lot of the others had to say.
"Bought the game solely because of Loveless," one review said. "This is how you market."
"Actually a nice character," a popular review said. "Looks good, good design, is insanely OP (can solo bosses without any help). But her alternate heads are a bit -- meh. And she costs $9.99. The VA put some effort into it though. Overall – I think she fits."
"Letting me buy the Vault Hunter without having to by the DLC story pack is the correct call," another fan said, referencing Loveless' $10 asking price compared to the recently released Story Pack 2 expansion. "Glad they learned. Also, step on me Mommy."
There are a number of factors contributing to Borderlands 4's boost in players on Steam, specifically. In addition to Loveless' status as a popular addition, Story Pack 2: FL4K and the Last Resort has also helped. There's also the fact that Gearbox is in the middle of a 50% off sale, bringing its price to $34.99 in the midst of a free-to-play weekend that runs until September 14.
