New startup studio Lost Lake Games, helmed by multiple former StarCraft developers, has officially revealed its debut game, Vaunted, mixing elements of third-person shooters and RPGs. StarCraft stands as one of the most popular strategy games of all time, and the sci-fi strategy franchise was once a staple of Blizzard’s library of games. The company released two numbered entries in the series, with the original launching in 1998, while StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty debuted more than a decade later in 2010. However, the series has been dormant since its heyday.
Fans of StarCraft have been waiting a long time to see a continuation of the beloved strategy franchise. The franchise has not seen a new release since 2017 with the launch of StarCraft: Remastered, which kicked off similar remakes of Diablo 2 and WarCraft 3. The StarCraft series has seen numerous rumors throughout the years about Blizzard’s return to the franchise, with everything from the long-awaited StarCraft 3 to the cancelled StarCraft: Ares first-person shooter. Now, a team of former StarCraft developers is bringing their talents to a new studio with the official reveal of Vaunted.
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Vaunted Is a New Strategy Shooter RPG from Former StarCraft Devs
Developer Lost Lake Games officially unveiled its debut game during the recent Xbox Partner Showcase, introducing fans to Vaunted. The game’s reveal trailer shows off a first look at its combat system, combining turn-based movement with third-person shooting mechanics. Vaunted appears to feature a similar damage system to games like Fallout, with players able to individually target specific parts of an enemy’s body. Lost Lake Games teased a deep and complex RPG system for the game, including skill trees for each playable character, randomized power-ups acquired in battle, and different builds for each character. The company is headed by StarCraft lead designer James Phinney, with the studio said to include former StarCraft and Guild Wars developers.
The announcement trailer gives players a taste of Vaunted‘s story alongside the combat systems. The game puts players in the role of a trio of interstellar treasure hunters, Dyse, Gendril, and Kyvaath, as they travel through ruins, deserts, and space stations. The Xbox Store page also teases a branching narrative for Vaunted‘s story, suggesting that the “unreliable narrators” can lead to different story outcomes and unique scenes on multiple playthroughs of the game. Lost Lake Games did not share a firm release date for Vaunted, with the game only said to be launching sometime in 2026.
Vaunted‘s gameplay takes some clear inspiration from a variety of different franchises, combining some of their best elements. The mix of tactical RPGs with shooter gameplay is reminiscent of the popular Valkyria Chronicles strategy games, which featured a similar combination. The ability for players to seemingly single out specific parts of the body looks to draw from the Fallout games, functioning like the VATS targeting system in the Bethesda RPG franchise. Vaunted is currently expected to be exclusively available on PC, launching on Steam, the Epic Games Store, and the Microsoft Store.
Vaunted will join a multitude of high-profile RPGs scheduled to release throughout the course of 2026. Microsoft is set to welcome the long-awaited return of its flagship Xbox RPG franchise in late 2026, with Fable launching as a reboot of the Lionhead Studios franchise. Pokemon developer Game Freak is also gearing up to launch its first non-Pokemon game in August with the debut of Beast of Reincarnation, also confirmed to be a day-one launch title on Xbox Game Pass. Lost Lake Games’ litany of strategy experience should help Vaunted stand out from the crowd in a jam-packed year for RPGs.
