The long-rumored StarCraft shooter may be closer to a reality than ever before, and may even have a former developer from The Initiative on board. According to Windows Central’s Jez Corden on The Xbox Two Podcast, Drew Murray, who served as design director at the shuttered Perfect Dark studio, is reportedly working on the title.
Murray’s LinkedIn confirms that he’s been working at Blizzard since last January as an associate design director. “I’ve heard that he’s working on the StarCraft shooter. Don’t know if it’s true or if he’s working on something else, but he is at Blizzard, and I have heard he’s working on that,” said Corden. Of course, Murray is also known for working at Insomniac Games on Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and an unannounced project, so he’s fairly well-versed in triple-A development.
The project was first rumored in September 2024 by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, who claimed that former Far Cry veteran Dan Hay was in charge. It was in the “very early stages” of development at the time, and while its current status is unknown, Blizzard posted listing for Lead Designer, Innovation on a “AAA shooter.” Experience with Unreal Engine is one of the requirements, and given the sheer experience on the engine at Xbox Game Studios, it isn’t out of the question.
Of course, we don’t know if it’s connected to the rumored StarCraft shooter apparently in the works at Nexon. Time will tell, and with BlizzCon coming in September, we may get an announcement in due time. Microsoft could even take the covers off at the Xbox Games Showcase on June 7th (if it doesn’t mind stealing any thunder from Gears of War: E-Day or Halo: Campaign Evolved, that is). Stay tuned for updates in the meantime.