StarCraft is a military science fiction video game series created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney and owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series takes place in the early 26th century and follows a space battle among four species—the flexible and mobile Terrans, the constantly changing insect-like Zerg, the strong and mysterious Protoss, and the powerful Xel'Naga race—in a region of the Milky Way galaxy called the Koprulu Sector. The series began with the 1998 video game StarCraft. It has expanded to include other games, eight books, two articles, a board game, and licensed items such as statues and toys.

Blizzard Entertainment started planning StarCraft in 1995, with Metzen and Phinney leading the team. The game was first shown at the 1996 Electronic Entertainment Expo and used a version of the Warcraft II game engine. StarCraft also created Blizzard’s film department, introducing high-quality cinematic scenes that helped tell the story. Most of the original team returned to develop the 1998 expansion pack, Brood War, which began shortly after StarCraft was released. In 2001, Blizzard started work on StarCraft: Ghost, a stealth-action game developed by Nihilistic Software. However, the project was delayed in 2004. A new real-time strategy game, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, began in 2003. It was announced in 2007 and released in 2010. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, an expansion, was released in 2013. The final part of StarCraft II, Legacy of the Void, came out in 2015. In 2016, a single-player mission pack called Nova Covert Ops was released as downloadable content.

The original game and Brood War are considered among the best real-time strategy games of their time. The series has a large fan base worldwide, especially in South Korea, where players compete in professional matches, earn sponsorships, and play on television. By June 2007, StarCraft and Brood War had sold nearly 10 million copies combined. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty and its expansions also received praise and sold well. By the end of 2017, the franchise had earned over $1 billion in revenue. It was honored with a star on the Walk of Game in 2006 and holds four Guinness World Records from the 2008 Gamer’s Edition.

On March 27, 2017, Blizzard announced StarCraft: Remastered, a version of the original game with updated graphics and audio. As of 2017, the original StarCraft, Brood War, and StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty are available for free download on Blizzard’s website.

Story

The story describes the actions of three species in a region of the Milky Way called the Koprulu Sector. Long before the events of the games, a race called the Xel'Naga used genetic methods to create the Protoss and later the Zerg, hoping to produce perfect beings. These experiments did not work as planned, and the Xel'Naga were mostly destroyed by the Zerg. Centuries before the start of StarCraft in 2499, Earth's strict global government, the United Earth Directorate (UED), began a colonization program to solve overpopulation. On the journey, the computers controlling the colony ships failed, sending the Terran colonists far off course to the edge of Protoss space. Without contact with Earth, the colonists formed different groups to manage their needs. The Protoss, interested in the behavior and thoughts of the Terrans, stayed hidden to study the humans while protecting them from other dangers without their knowledge. The Zerg, however, aimed to absorb the Terrans to use their mental energy, forcing the Protoss to destroy infected Terran colonies to stop the Zerg spread.

StarCraft begins days after the first of these attacks, when the main Terran government, the Terran Confederacy, becomes extremely worried as it is attacked by both the Zerg and the Protoss, along with growing rebel activity led by Arcturus Mengsk against its rule. The Confederacy eventually collapses when Mengsk's rebels use Confederate technology to lure the Zerg into attacking the Confederate capital, Tarsonis. After this, Mengsk declares himself emperor of a new Terran Dominion. During the attack on Tarsonis, Mengsk allows the Zerg to capture and infest his psionic second-in-command, Sarah Kerrigan. This betrayal causes Mengsk's other commander, Jim Raynor, to leave him with a small army. After retreating with Kerrigan to their main hive clusters, the Zerg are attacked by Protoss forces led by Tassadar and the dark templar Zeratul. By killing a Zerg cerebrate, Zeratul accidentally reveals the location of the Protoss homeworld, Aiur, to the Overmind. The Overmind quickly launches an invasion to absorb the Protoss and gain genetic perfection. Pursued by his own people for helping Zeratul, Tassadar returns to Aiur and, with the help of Raynor and the templar Fenix, attacks the Overmind and sacrifices himself to kill it.

In Brood War, the Protoss are led by Zeratul and Artanis. They begin moving the surviving people of Aiur to the dark templar homeworld of Shakuras under a weak agreement between the two distrustful groups of Protoss. On Shakuras, they are tricked by Kerrigan into attacking the Zerg to help her gain power over the Zerg. This happens after she reveals that a new Overmind is being created. Meanwhile, Earth sends a fleet to take control of the Terran Dominion and capture the new Overmind. Although the UED successfully takes the Dominion capital Korhal and captures the Overmind, their efforts to catch Mengsk are stopped by a spy working for Kerrigan, Samir Duran. Kerrigan, joining forces with Mengsk, Fenix, and Raynor, attacks the UED, reclaiming Korhal. She later turns against her allies, with Fenix and Duke dying in the attacks. Kerrigan later forces Zeratul to kill the new Overmind, giving her full control over the Zerg Swarm. After defeating a counterattack by the Protoss, Dominion, and the UED (and destroying the last of the UED fleet), Kerrigan and her Zerg forces become the strongest power in the sector. However, Zeratul secretly learns that Duran is planning to create Protoss-Zerg hybrids and discovers that Duran is not working for Kerrigan, but for a "much greater power."

Four years later, in Wings of Liberty, Kerrigan and the Zerg disappear from the Koprulu Sector, allowing the Protoss to return to a passive role in the galaxy. Meanwhile, Raynor creates a group called Raynor's Raiders to overthrow Mengsk. On Mar Sara, Raynor frees the local population from Dominion control and finds a piece of a mysterious Xel'Naga artifact. The Zerg return and take over Mar Sara, forcing Raynor to evacuate to his battlecruiser, the Hyperion. The Raiders go on missions to weaken Mengsk, stop Zerg attacks on Terran worlds, gather psychic individuals for military use, and collect the remaining parts of the Xel'Naga artifact, which they sell to the secretive Moebius Foundation to fund their revolution. Soon after, Zeratul gives Raynor a psychic crystal that lets him see visions of a dark prophecy where Zerg-Protoss hybrids and a controlled Zerg swarm destroy the Terrans and Protoss. The vision shows that only Kerrigan can stop the destruction of all life in the sector and beyond. After gathering more artifact pieces, the Raiders team up with Valerian Mengsk, Arcturus' son, who secretly supports them through the Moebius Foundation. After finding the last artifact piece, Valerian and Raynor attack the Zerg world of Char and use the artifact to restore Kerrigan's humanity, weakening the Zerg but costing much of the Dominion fleet. An agent of Arcturus tries to kill Kerrigan, and Raynor protects her, taking her for medical care.

In Heart of the Swarm, the Dominion finds where Raynor and Kerrigan are hiding and attacks them. Kerrigan escapes but is separated from Raynor. After learning that Raynor was captured and executed, she returns to Zerg territory to take back control of the swarm and get revenge on Mengsk. During her journey, she meets Zeratul, who tells her to go to Zerus, the original home of the Zerg, where she regains her powers as the Queen of Blades and learns that a fallen Xel'Naga named Amon is responsible for turning the Zerg into a fighting swarm under one will. After facing Amon's servants, including Protoss-Zerg hybrids, Mengsk tells Kerrigan that Raynor is still alive and uses him as a threat against her, keeping his location secret until she joins the Hyperion to rescue him. Seeing that Kerrigan gave up her humanity after Raynor helped restore it, Raynor refuses her, even after she says she loves him, and leaves her. Kerrigan focuses on Korhal and sends her forces to defeat Mengsk once and for all. During their fight, Mengsk uses the artifact to stop Kerrigan, but Raynor protects her, and Mengsk is killed by Kerrigan. With the Dominion now controlled by Mengsk's son, Valerian, Kerrigan says goodbye to Raynor and leaves with the Zerg Swarm to fight Amon and his forces.

In Legacy of the Void, Zeratul attacks a Terran installation controlled by Amon to find his exact location, using a sudden attack by Kerrigan and the Zerg swarm. After locating Amon, Zeratul goes to an ancient Xel'Naga temple where he sees a vision of Tass

Games

The StarCraft series includes a main set of games that tell the main story. These games were released in order, with each new game following the events from the previous one. A second main game, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, was released in 2010, taking place four years after the end of Brood War. Two expansions, Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void (both now stand-alone games), were planned from the start. Heart of the Swarm came out in 2013, and Legacy of the Void was released in 2015.

All the main games are real-time strategy games, where players act as military commanders for three different alien species. Two spin-off titles were also released. These are official expansions to the original game, focusing on other characters and settings that happen at the same time as the main story. Like the main series, these spin-offs are also real-time strategy games. A spin-off called StarCraft: Ghost, which was meant to be a third-person action-stealth game, was in development but later canceled.

StarCraft, released for Windows on March 31, 1998, is the first game in the series. It is a science fiction real-time strategy game set in a distant part of the Milky Way galaxy. A Mac OS version was released by Blizzard Entertainment in March 1999. A Nintendo 64 version, which included StarCraft, Brood War, and a new secret mission called "Resurrection IV," was released in the United States on June 13, 2000.

The game's story follows the arrival of two alien races in Terran space and their efforts to survive and adapt. Players take on three roles across three campaigns: a Confederate colonial governor who becomes a revolutionary commander, a Zerg cerebrate pushing the species' goal of assimilation, and a Protoss fleet executor defending the Protoss from the Zerg. StarCraft received critical praise, winning many awards, including being called "the best real-time strategy game ever made" and ranked the seventh best game of all time by IGN in 2003 and 2005, and the eleventh best game in 2007.

StarCraft: Brood War is the official expansion pack for StarCraft, developed by Blizzard Entertainment and Saffire. Released for Windows and Mac OS in the United States on December 18, 1998, the expansion continues the events of StarCraft. The story starts just days after the original game ends, focusing on the Protoss' struggle to survive and the United Earth Directorate's involvement in Terran affairs. Sarah Kerrigan and her Zerg broods then threaten both the Protoss and the Earth government. The expansion added seven new units, improved artificial intelligence, new terrain graphics, and better tools for creating in-game scenes. Brood War received praise for fixing balance issues, offering full-game development quality, and continuing story-driven campaigns. In April 2017, StarCraft received its first update in over eight years, and Brood War was made free for PC and Mac users.

A remastered version of the game, StarCraft: Remastered, was released on August 14, 2017. It keeps the original gameplay but adds support for ultra-high-definition graphics, modern online features, and re-recorded audio. On July 10, 2019, Blizzard released StarCraft: Cartooned, a graphics update by Carbot Animations, which applies to all game modes and menus in StarCraft: Remastered.

A fan-made version of the StarCraft and Brood War campaigns was released in 2011 as a mod for StarCraft II, called StarCraft: Mass Recall. It includes original units, campaigns, and hidden missions but uses the StarCraft II engine, making the game more challenging. It was completed in 2019 and has received minor updates since.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is the official sequel to StarCraft, released for Windows and Mac OS X by Blizzard Entertainment on July 27, 2010. It was announced in 2007 with a cinematic trailer and gameplay demo of the Protoss. The game uses a new 3D graphics engine and includes features like the Havok physics engine and DirectX 10 effects. Originally planned as one game, StarCraft II was split into three parts, each focusing on a different race. Wings of Liberty follows the Terrans, while the expansions Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void continue the story from the Zerg and Protoss perspectives. The story of Wings of Liberty begins four years after Brood War ends and follows Jim Raynor's fight against the Terran Dominion.

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm is an expansion to Wings of Liberty, released on March 12, 2013. It is the second part of the StarCraft II trilogy. The expansion includes new units, multiplayer changes, and a campaign focusing on Kerrigan and the Zerg. It has 27 missions, including 20 main missions and 7 side missions.

StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void completes the StarCraft saga, released on November 10, 2015. It is a stand-alone game that adds new units for all three races and changes the game's economy system. The story follows the Protoss' effort to reclaim their homeworld and Kerrigan's final battle against the universe's greatest threat. The game includes a 3-mission prologue, a 19-mission main campaign, and a 3-mission epilogue.

At BlizzCon 2015, Blizzard announced additional mission packs for StarCraft II to keep players engaged. The first, called Nova Covert Ops, focuses on the character Nova and includes nine missions across three episodes. It does not require purchasing StarCraft II and can be played with the Starter Edition. The first episode was released on March 29, 2016. Blizzard also announced new commanders for the co-op mode in Legacy of the Void as DLC, with Karax added for free.

The success of StarCraft led to the creation of two official add-on titles and one failed attempt to make a game in a different genre. Insurrection was the first add-on, released for PC on July 31, 1998, and developed by Aztech New Media with Blizzard's authorization. Its story focuses on…

Development

Blizzard Entertainment started planning StarCraft in 1995, soon after beginning work on Diablo. Chris Metzen and James Phinney led the development of the game and created its fictional universe. The game used the Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness engine as a base. StarCraft was first shown at E3 1996. Its success led to the creation of two official add-ons, both released in 1998. However, these add-ons were not well received by critics. StarCraft also marked the start of Blizzard’s film department. Before this, cinematic cut scenes in games were often seen as simple fillers that did not connect to the story. With StarCraft and later Brood War, Blizzard introduced high-quality cinematics that were important to the game’s story, changing how these scenes were viewed in the industry.

StarCraft’s success inspired Microstar Software to create an unauthorized add-on called Stellar Forces in May 1998. Blizzard sued Microstar, claiming the add-on was not approved and used StarCraft’s level editing software, violating the end user license agreement.

In November 1998, Blizzard won the court case against Microstar. As part of the settlement, Microstar agreed to pay an undisclosed amount in punitive damages, destroy all remaining copies of Stellar Forces, and formally apologize to Blizzard.

After the release of the first two add-ons, Blizzard announced an official expansion pack for StarCraft called Brood War. Most of the team that worked on StarCraft returned to help with Brood War. Development began shortly after StarCraft’s release, and Blizzard received help from members of Saffire, who worked on programming, level design, visuals, and audio effects.

In 2001, StarCraft: Ghost was developed by Nihilistic Software for release on the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube by late 2003. Unlike previous StarCraft games, Ghost was a third-person action game. While the press praised the game’s console focus, it was repeatedly delayed. In 2004, Nihilistic Software stopped working on the project. Blizzard stated that Nihilistic had completed its tasks and the game would be released on time. However, the game was never released. Footage believed to be from the game was shared online in 2021 but was later removed at Blizzard’s request.

StarCraft II was announced on May 19, 2007, nearly 10 years after the original, during the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in Seoul, South Korea. The game, under the codename Medusa, was being developed for release on Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Mac OS X. Blizzard announced a release date of July 27, 2010. Development began in 2003, shortly after Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne was released.

Music

The original StarCraft soundtrack was created by Glenn Stafford, Jason Hayes, and Tracey W. Bush. The StarCraft II soundtrack was created by Derek Duke, Glenn Stafford, Neal Acree, and Russell Brower.

Russell Brower, Blizzard's Director of Audio, explained that the music in StarCraft has two purposes. During gameplay, the music is designed to be quiet so players can focus. Only the music during movie-like scenes is allowed to be more noticeable. Brower also noted that some musical themes in StarCraft II are linked to specific characters, a method used by composers like John Williams and Richard Wagner.

Brower mentioned that most of the music for the original StarCraft series was made using keyboards.

The original music for the Wings of Liberty soundtrack lasts about four hours. Brower shared in interviews that his team aimed to create a music style similar to movies for StarCraft II. In a short comment for Blizzard, he described how the orchestral music for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty was played by 78 members of the San Francisco Symphony and Opera. It was recorded at the Skywalker stage at the Lucasfilm Ranch in Marin County, California, under the name "Skywalker Symphony Orchestra," led by Eímear Noone. He also mentioned the use of a choir with 32 singers in Seattle, Washington. Both recording sessions were mixed by John Kurlander, who had previously worked on Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Beatles' Abbey Road.

The Terran country and blues music was recorded at Dreamland studio in Woodstock, New York, and performed by members of Peter Gabriel's band, including bassist Tony Levin and drummer Jerry Marotta. Other pieces were recorded at Blizzard studios and performed by musicians such as Laurence Juber (formerly of Wings) and Tommy Morgan. The soundtrack also includes the hymn Eternal Father, Strong to Save (1860), written by John Bacchus Dykes and William Whiting.

The orchestral music for Heart of the Swarm was also recorded in Marin County, again with Kurlander and Noone, using 80 performers from the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra.

In a 2013 interview, Brower stated that he planned to continue using musical themes linked to characters in Legacy of the Void.

Adaptations and other media

The StarCraft series has at least 12 books and an anthology published by Simon & Schuster, two short stories, and two graphic novels. In 2007, Chris Metzen, a creator of StarCraft, said he wanted to write a complete story based on the StarCraft and Brood War games. The first book, StarCraft: Uprising, was written by Micky Neilson, a Blizzard employee, and released as an e-book in December 2000. This book tells the story of Sarah Kerrigan’s early life. The second book, StarCraft: Liberty's Crusade, was written by Jeff Grubb and published in March 2001. It is the first StarCraft novel printed in paperback and follows a journalist who meets important Terran characters. StarCraft: Shadow of the Xel'Naga, published in July 2001, was written by Kevin Anderson using the name Gabriel Mesta. This book connects the StarCraft and Brood War stories. Tracy Hickman, a fantasy writer, wrote StarCraft: Speed of Darkness, published in June 2002. This book tells the story of a Confederate marine during the early part of the StarCraft game. In 2007, the first four books, including Uprising, were reprinted as a collection called The StarCraft Archive.

A fifth book, StarCraft: Queen of Blades, was published in June 2006. Written by Aaron S. Rosenberg, it is based on the second campaign of StarCraft and tells the story from the perspective of Jim Raynor. In November 2006, StarCraft Ghost: Nova was released. This book, written by Keith R.A. DeCandido, focuses on the early life of the character Nova, who was originally part of the canceled StarCraft: Ghost game. In 2007, Christie Golden, an author who wrote books for Blizzard’s Warcraft series, began writing a trilogy called StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga. This trilogy connects StarCraft to its sequel, StarCraft II. The first book, Firstborn, was published in May 2007, followed by Shadow Hunters in November 2007. The final book, Twilight, was released in June 2009. I, Mengsk, published in 2009, was written by Graham McNeill and focuses on the origins of the Mengsk family. In 2010, Keith R.A. DeCandido and David Gerrold wrote StarCraft: Ghost Academy, which explains Nova’s training as an espionage agent. In 2011, StarCraft Ghost: Spectres was published as a sequel to Nova. In 2016, Timothy Zahn released StarCraft: Evolution.

Blizzard Entertainment also published two short stories in Amazing Stories magazine: StarCraft: Revelations and StarCraft: Hybrid. Revelations was written by Chris Metzen and Sam Moore, with artwork by Samwise Didier, and appeared on the cover of the 1999 spring edition. Hybrid was written by Micky Neilson and also featured artwork by Didier. In 2008, TokyoPop announced two graphic novel series: StarCraft: Frontline, a collection of short stories in four volumes, and StarCraft: Ghost Academy, written by Keith R.A. DeCandido and focusing on characters like Nova during their training as "ghosts." In 2010, a graphic novel titled StarCraft was released by Wildstorm and DC Comics. It features outlaws working on a mission to assassinate Jim Raynor.

ToyCom made action figures and statues of StarCraft characters and units. Academy Hobby Model Kits produced 1/30 scale models of a marine and a hydralisk. Blizzard Entertainment also partnered with Fantasy Flight Games to create a board game set in the StarCraft universe. Additionally, Blizzard licensed Wizards of the Coast to make a game called StarCraft Adventures based on the Alternity system.

In 2015, Blizzard released Heroes of the Storm, a multiplayer game where players can control characters from StarCraft, such as Artanis, Kerrigan, Nova, Raynor, and Zeratul. The game includes two battlefields inspired by StarCraft, called Braxis Holdout and Warhead Junction. Music from the StarCraft soundtrack, such as the Terran and Zerg themes, is used in the game. Heroes of the Storm began as a custom map called "Blizzard DOTA" in the StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty game.

Reception and cultural impact

The StarCraft series has been very successful in selling games. After its release, StarCraft became the best-selling PC game that year, with more than 1.5 million copies sold worldwide. Over the next ten years, StarCraft sold more than 9.5 million copies globally, including 4.5 million in South Korea. Blizzard Entertainment reported that its online multiplayer service, Battle.net, grew by 800 percent after StarCraft was released. Ten years after its release, StarCraft was still one of the most popular online games in the world. In South Korea, StarCraft quickly became popular, creating a strong professional gaming scene. Professional gamers in South Korea are well-known in niche media, and StarCraft games are broadcast on three television channels that focus on gaming. StarCraft has received many Game of the Year awards and is often called one of the best real-time strategy games ever made. It is widely credited with introducing distinct and unique sides in real-time strategy games, instead of sides with equal strength.

Although Insurrection and Retribution were not well received, StarCraft: Brood War generally received very positive reviews, with an average score of 95.00% from GameRankings. The magazine PC Zone gave Brood War a short but positive review, saying it was "definitely worth the wait" and noting that the cinematic cut scenes "actually feel like part of the story." IGN said that Brood War's improvements "enriched the core gameplay without losing the original feel," while GameSpot mentioned that the expansion was developed with the same level of care as the original game.

In 1999, Next Generation listed Warcraft and StarCraft as number 32 on their "Top 50 Games of All Time," stating that StarCraft "took it all a step further" with an innovative campaign structure and excellent game balance for long multiplayer sessions.

The release of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty was very successful, selling 1.8 million copies in the first 48 hours. This broke the record for the best-selling strategy game in the history of the gaming industry. It received very positive reviews, with an average score of 93% from GameRankings, and was nominated as the "Best PC Game of 2010" by GameSpot. By the end of 2012, Wings of Liberty had sold more than six million copies. This success continued with the release of the first expansion pack, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, which had an average score of 86% from GameRankings. The expansion sold 1.1 million copies in the first two days of its March 12, 2013, release and was the best-selling PC game that quarter. StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void, the third expansion pack, was also well received, with an average score of 88% and sold more than one million copies worldwide on its first day of release.

Since the release of StarCraft II, many tournaments have been held in Korea and other places, such as the GOMTV Global StarCraft II League (GSL).

In December 2018, an artificial intelligence system developed by Google's DeepMind, called "AlphaStar," beat professional players in StarCraft II for the first time.

By the end of 2015, the StarCraft series had sold more than 17.6 million copies of games and expansions. The first game, including Brood War, sold 11 million copies by 2009, making it the best-selling PC strategy game of all time. By the end of 2017, the franchise had earned more than $1 billion in total revenue.