StarCraft 2 is almost over. The Legacy of the Void release date on Nov. 10 will spell the end of an era that first began in 1998, with the release of the original StarCraft: the story of Jim Raynor, the story of Sarah Kerrigan, and most importantly the story of Aiur, Zeratul, and the Protoss. But that doesn’t mean StarCraft is over. Indeed, there will inevitably be more StarCraft… but whether it ever takes the form of StarCraft 3 is another question entirely.

StarCraft 3: Legacy Of The Void Isn’t The End

Legacy of the Void will definitively end the story of StarCraft 2, and with it many threads that held over from StarCraft. These are facts. The story is going to wrap up in a real and hopefully satisfying way. This is the end, after 17 years. But StarCraft doesn’t have to end after StarCraft 2. In the same IGN interview where a Blizzard producer revealed that Warcraft 4 was officially on the table, that same producer—Tim Morten—revealed that StarCraft ain’t finished. "This isn’t the end of StarCraft, but it’s the end of this story for these characters," he told IGN, adding that Blizzard had no specific plans for the future of the series yet. But the world is robust, and filled with possible stories.

Does that mean StarCraft 3 is right around the corner? No, probably not. After all, twelve long years elapsed between the release of StarCraft: Brood War and StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty. And that was a different time. In the five years since, real time strategy games have gone somewhat out of fashion, or at least been eclipsed by the MOBA genre, its own child. Even Warcraft 4, now as ever in perpetually high demand, seems a little dicey. I doubt we’ll see another StarCraft RTS in the current generation and milieu of gaming—whatever that means.

But even then, that doesn’t mean the end of StarCraft, nor does it mean being relegated to Super Smash Bros–like appearances in Heroes of the Storm and that ilk. There are many genres of games, and Blizzard—not to mention Activision—is versatile. It won’t be StarCraft 3, or StarCraft Ghost: This Time A Real Ghost, but the StarCraft world is a compelling one. The series disappeared for twelve years. It can disappear again for a while, and then be reborn in a new form.