Could it be StarCraft 2? WoW developer fans the flames of speculation as it promises big announcement next year

Blizzard Entertainment, not content with simply spilling the beans at the Leipzig Games Convention on plans to bring out new expansion sets for World of Warcraft on a yearly basis, has dropped hefty hints that we may see StarCraft 2 announced next year.

In an interview with IGN at the show, the developer's COO, Paul Sams, revealed that Blizzard is to make a major product announcement in 2007, and spoke about his love for the studio's StarCraft RTS game: "StarCraft is my absolutely favorite game of all time... As you probably already know, there is no doubt that we will continue the StarCraft and Diablo franchise, and trust me, I will be the happiest person in the world when we announce StarCraft 2."

It's obviously speculation, but Sams' revelation on a major unveiling for next year from Blizzard and his talk about StarCraft 2 could well mean we'll see official word on the RTS sequel emerge in 2007. Or the major unveiling may be Diablo 3. Or StarCraft: Ghost next-gen. Hmm, we could keep on guessing for some time...

We'll just have to wait and see what Blizzard reveals, but it's said that it's working on at least three unannounced games at the moment so it may well be we'll hear details on more than just one single new project from the studio next year.