Starcraft: Ghost Not Cancelled, Remains On Hold

Earnest Cavalli

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Starcraft: Ghost Not Cancelled, Remains On Hold



It seems appropriate that a game called Starcraft: Ghost is apparently neither living nor dead.

Before we launch into things, I want you each to locate a salt lick no less than two inches wide by two inches deep. A proper moose-grade lick. Anything less and you might be tempted to blow what I'm about to tell you way, way out of proportion - like the rest of the internet.

Alright, got your lick? Well, go on. Lick it. I'll wait.

Done? Good, because according to Diablo 3 designer Matthew Burger Starcraft: Ghost may still hit store shelves.

This news comes to us from the UK incarnation of Official PlayStation Magazine. Burger was initially approached to discuss the upcoming PlayStation 3 iteration of Diablo 3, but when the chat turned toward the long-lost Starcraft: Ghost, Burger seemingly hinted that it might not be so lost after all.

"[Starcraft: Ghost is] on hold. It has never been cancelled," Burger states. When inevitably asked if that means that we might still one day play the game, Burger replies simply, "Maybe."

That's not much to go on, but it's important to keep in mind that this is a Blizzard Entertainment game we're talking about here - and not just that, it's a spin-off of what is arguably the planet's most popular strategy franchise, which would adapt the familiar characters and locations of Starcraft to a third-person, three-dimensional, action-adventure setting. Blizzard has never done anything like that before, yet all of its releases are objectively very good. For the past decade it was though that Starcraft: Ghost had been aborted and that we'd never hear anything more of the game outside of random gaming trivia and wistful nostalgia. Yet Burger claims that this is not the case. That the game is, in fact, still in some level of development (albeit the depressingly stagnant purgatory level).

So what does this news mean to you, the average Escapist reader? Not much. You may get excited for a few moments, but even if Starcraft: Ghost does eventually emerge from its unending development hell, that won't be for at least a few more years. Plus, there had to have been a good reason for Blizzard throwing a sheet over the project in the first place, right? Contemporary reports indicated that the game just wasn't reaching the company's high quality standards. What could have changed that would suddenly alter that perception?

Above and beyond all of this though, the supposed miraculous resurrection of Starcraft: Ghost is based entirely on the words of Matthew Burger. Nine of them, to be exact. It's not as if he detailed how Starcraft: Ghost would look on the PlayStation 4. It's entirely possible that Burger was simply reiterating a fact that most people have forgotten about Starcraft: Ghost: Blizzard never canceled the game, at least not publicly. We all just sorta assumed they did after the company stopped mentioning it. If Burger's statements amount to nothing, that's collectively on us.

Source: Official PlayStation Magazine [http://www.officialplaystationmagazine.co.uk/2013/04/08/starcraft-ghost-still-in-development-infamous-vaporware-may-yet-solidify-on-playstation/]

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ohnoitsabear

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Feb 15, 2011
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Umm... is this news? I'm pretty sure this is what they've been saying ever since they stopped development on it. Officially, Blizzard doesn't cancel any projects, but the practical difference between canceling something and putting something on indefinite hold are minimal, if not nonexistent.
 

Bindal

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May 14, 2012
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ohnoitsabear said:
Umm... is this news?
Well, after what felt like a decade (it was less, but not by much) with not even the slightest peep about the game resulting in many people to believe the game to be cancelled... yes, this is news.
 

snekadid

Lord of the Salt
Mar 29, 2012
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NOT COOL BLIZZARD! NOT FUCKING COOL! We put up missing person posters! We went through all the stages of grief atleast twice! We even dug a grave and held a funeral which we visit yearly while praying their killer is brought to justice.

Coming out now and telling us it might still be alive is just a douche move, let it die.

CAPTCHA: comfort zone
Learn to read the mood captcha.
 

Jhooud

Someone's Dad
Nov 29, 2011
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Yeah, reading the article over at OPM makes this sound more like a pat answer to a FAQ than anything to get excited about. I'd be interested to see what they'd have done with the concept, and they didn't say never, but a brief "It's on hold. It has never been cancelled." followed by "maybe" doesn't seem like much fodder for hope.
 

Kargathia

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Bindal said:
ohnoitsabear said:
Umm... is this news?
Well, after what felt like a decade (it was less, but not by much) with not even the slightest peep about the game resulting in many people to believe the game to be cancelled... yes, this is news.
It's newsworthy, and yet not - all this tells us is that Blizzard has the basic memory required to remember a project they've stopped almost a decade ago. There's probably some assets sitting on a server somewhere, as there's no reason to delete them.
But as long as there's no reason to work on them either, they'll remain there.
 

Lever

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Jun 30, 2011
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Just because it isn't "Cancelled" doesn't mean it's ever going to see the light of day. I have to wonder what the point of this was. Is Blizzard hinting that development might resume, or are they just rubbing our noses in it?
 

Froggy Slayer

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inb4 worse than Duke Nukem Forever, Aliens Colonial Marines

What? Long delayed releases haven't inspired much confidence recently, it must be said.
 

ArcossG

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May 12, 2011
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It'll probably have always on DRM and microtransactions so why bother

Not to mention that Blzzard is incapable of making gameplay advancements anymore
 

Zigot66

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Aug 21, 2009
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ohnoitsabear said:
Umm... is this news? I'm pretty sure this is what they've been saying ever since they stopped development on it. Officially, Blizzard doesn't cancel any projects, but the practical difference between canceling something and putting something on indefinite hold are minimal, if not nonexistent.
This is news, because this is Blizzard. No one seems to remember their stance on Starcraft 2 right up until it was actually announced. They were "interested in revisiting the series, but were not working on it at this time." They had actually been working on it for years. I wouldn't be too surprised if they teased Starcraft: Ghost at this BlizzCon or the next. It would still likely be a few years of (ready when it's ready) but if they didn't want people to keep they're hope up, it would be treated like Lord of the Clans, not like this.
 

Scars Unseen

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May 7, 2009
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Translation: We scrapped the game, but since it is out IP, we can call any upcoming games whatever we damn well please. Also, we heard that Half Life 3 was the new Duke Nukem, and we just couldn't let ourselves be upstaged by those prissy Valve fucks.
 

Formica Archonis

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Nov 13, 2009
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I shall gauge my annoyance based on how old Gabe's art looks in the Penny Arcade strip from when it was in development [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/06/23].

Okay, not the ancient style so I can't stir up anything approaching anger. Still, it's old enough that I feel this deserves some level of dislike from me.

Since I have no real interest in the Starcraft franchise (only played the board game), someone put me down as "rather annoyed (they wasted time on this announcement)".
 

DTWolfwood

Better than Vash!
Oct 20, 2009
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you can play Starcraft ghost in SC2. I pretty sure there is a custom game for it lol
 

Product Placement

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Jul 16, 2009
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Wait, wasn't that game originally designed for the last generation consoles and canceled over 8 years ago?

If it's been on ice this entire time and they intend on continue development, wouldn't they practically need to start from scratch?
 

josemlopes

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Jun 9, 2008
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Just call Gearbox to kill it and ease our minds, its better to come out anything then staying in limbo. Im glad Duke Nukem Forever came out, at least we dont think of what it could be if it was released.
 

Scrythe

Premium Gasoline
Jun 23, 2009
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I long ago stopped holding my breath on this (yes, even after Duke Nukem: Forever magically started existing).

Having said that, I do appreciate that they seem to have allowed elements from Starcraft: Ghost live on in Starcraft 2. The tie-in novel wasn't bad either.
 

Zigot66

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Aug 21, 2009
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ArcossG said:
It'll probably have always on DRM and microtransactions so why bother

Not to mention that Blzzard is incapable of making gameplay advancements anymore
Two points here:

1) Blizzard has acknowledged that the Diablo 3 Auction House (and by extension, always on) hurt the game, and their sales. Also the AH used Player-to-Player transactions, not, strictly speaking, micro-transactions.

2) Blizzard isn't about advancement, they never have been, they're about refinement and polishing to a mirror shine. Starcraft defined the RTS genre, but it didn't really do anything that hadn't been seen before. WoW did the same, perfecting (for the time) a genre that was an absolute mess. Diablo was the very apex of the hack-and-slash dungeon crawler, to the point that any other game in the genre was (and often still is) referred to as a Diablo clone.
 

evilneko

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Jun 16, 2011
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Whaddya mean Blizzard has never done 3rd person adventure? Did you forget WoW can be played 3rd person?