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, who are the creators of the other species. This story happens in a faraway part of the Milky Way galaxy called the Koprulu Sector. The series began with the video game StarCraft in 1998. Over time, it has grown to include other games, eight books, two magazine articles, a board game, and items like collectible 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 led to the creation of Blizzard's film department, as the game included high-quality movie-like scenes that helped tell the story. Many of the original developers returned to work on the expansion pack, Brood War, which began development shortly after StarCraft was released. In 2001, a new game called StarCraft: Ghost was started by Nihilistic Software. Unlike earlier games in the series, Ghost was meant to be a stealth-action game. After three years of work, development was paused in 2004. In 2003, a new real-time strategy game, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, began development. It was announced in May 2007 and released in July 2010. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, an expansion pack, was released in March 2013. The final part of StarCraft II, Legacy of the Void, came out in November 2015. In 2016, a single-player mission pack called Nova Covert Ops was added as downloadable content.

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

On March 27, 2017, Blizzard announced StarCraft: Remastered, an updated version of the original game with improved graphics and revised dialogue and audio. As of 2017, the original StarCraft, its Brood War expansion, 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 part of the Milky Way called the Koprulu Sector. Long ago, a race called the Xel'Naga created the Protoss and later the Zerg through genetic changes, hoping to make perfect beings. These experiments failed, and the Zerg destroyed the Xel'Naga. Before the events of StarCraft in 2499, Earth's government, the United Earth Directorate (UED), started a colonization program to solve overpopulation. The computers controlling the colony ships had problems, sending the Terrans far from their intended path to the edge of Protoss space. Without contact with Earth, the Terrans formed different groups to manage their needs. The Protoss watched the Terrans secretly, studying them and protecting them from dangers without being seen. The Zerg, however, wanted to take over 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 Zerg attack, when the Terran Confederacy, the main Terran government, becomes scared as it faces attacks from the Zerg, the Protoss, and rebels led by Arcturus Mengsk. The Confederacy collapses when Mengsk's rebels use Confederate technology to lure the Zerg into attacking the capital, Tarsonis. After this, Mengsk becomes emperor of a new government called the Terran Dominion. During the attack on Tarsonis, Mengsk allows the Zerg to capture his second-in-command, Sarah Kerrigan. This betrayal causes Mengsk's other commander, Jim Raynor, to leave him with a small army. The Zerg, now led by Kerrigan, are attacked by Protoss forces led by Tassadar and the dark templar Zeratul. Zeratul kills a Zerg leader, accidentally revealing the location of the Protoss homeworld, Aiur. The Zerg leader, the Overmind, invades Aiur to take over the Protoss. Tassadar, blamed for helping Zeratul, returns to Aiur with Raynor and the templar Fenix to attack the Overmind and sacrifices himself to kill it.

In Brood War, the Protoss are led by Zeratul and Artanis. They begin moving the surviving Protoss from Aiur to the dark templar's home, Shakuras, under a shaky agreement between the two Protoss groups. On Shakuras, Kerrigan tricks the Protoss into attacking the Zerg to help her gain control over the Zerg. She later tells them a new Overmind is being created. Meanwhile, Earth sends a fleet to take over the Terran Dominion and capture the new Overmind. The UED succeeds in taking the Dominion's capital, Korhal, and capturing the Overmind, but their plan to capture Mengsk fails because of a spy working for Kerrigan, Samir Duran. Kerrigan teams up with Mengsk, Fenix, and Raynor to attack the UED, recapturing Korhal. She betrays her allies, killing Fenix and Duke. Kerrigan forces Zeratul to kill the new Overmind, giving her full control over the Zerg. After defeating the Protoss, Dominion, and UED, Kerrigan becomes the strongest force in the sector. Zeratul secretly learns that Duran is working for a powerful enemy, not Kerrigan.

Four years later, in Wings of Liberty, Kerrigan and the Zerg disappear from the Koprulu Sector, letting the Protoss stay out of the conflict. Raynor starts a group called Raynor's Raiders to fight Mengsk. On Mar Sara, Raynor frees the local people from the Dominion and finds a piece of a mysterious Xel'Naga artifact. The Zerg attack Mar Sara, forcing Raynor to evacuate to his ship, the Hyperion. The Raiders complete missions to weaken Mengsk, stop Zerg attacks, and collect psychic individuals for the military. They also find more pieces of the Xel'Naga artifact, selling them to the Moebius Foundation to fund their rebellion. Zeratul gives Raynor a psychic crystal that shows a vision of a dangerous future where Zerg-Protoss hybrids and a controlled Zerg swarm destroy the Terrans and Protoss. The vision reveals only Kerrigan can stop this. After gathering the last artifact piece, Raynor teams up with Valerian Mengsk, Arcturus' son, who secretly helps them through the Moebius Foundation. Together, they attack the Zerg world of Char and use the artifact to restore Kerrigan's humanity, weakening the Zerg but damaging the Dominion fleet. An agent of Arcturus tries to kill Kerrigan, but Raynor saves her and takes her for medical care.

In Heart of the Swarm, the Dominion finds Raynor and Kerrigan and attacks them. Kerrigan escapes but is separated from Raynor. When she hears Raynor was captured and executed, she returns to Zerg territory to take back control and get revenge on Mengsk. She meets Zeratul, who tells her to go to Zerus, the Zerg's original home, where she regains her power as the Queen of Blades and learns a fallen Xel'Naga named Amon made the Zerg a warlike swarm. After fighting Amon's forces, including Zerg-Protoss hybrids, Mengsk tells Kerrigan Raynor is still alive and uses him as a threat. Raynor rejects Kerrigan after she gives up her humanity, even though she says she loves him. Kerrigan attacks Korhal to defeat Mengsk. Mengsk tries to stop her with the artifact, but Raynor saves her, and Kerrigan kills Mengsk. With Mengsk's son, Valerian, now in charge of the Dominion, Kerrigan says goodbye to Raynor and leaves with the Zerg to fight Amon.

Games

The StarCraft series includes a main set of games that follow the main story. These games were released in order, with each new game continuing the events from the previous one. In 2010, a second main game called StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty was released. This game takes 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 was released in 2013, and Legacy of the Void was released in 2015.

All main series games are real-time strategy games. In these games, players control events as a military leader for one of three alien species. Two additional titles were released as authorized expansions to the original game. These titles focus on different characters and settings that take place at the same time as the main story. Like the main series, these titles 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 was 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 version for Mac OS was released in March 1999. A Nintendo 64 version that included StarCraft, Brood War, and a 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 attempts to survive and adapt. Players take on three roles across three campaigns: a Terran colonial governor who becomes a revolutionary leader, a Zerg cerebrate that pushes the Zerg’s goal of assimilation, and a Protoss fleet commander who defends the Protoss from the Zerg. StarCraft received many awards, including being called "the best real-time strategy game ever made" and being ranked among the top games of all time by IGN.

StarCraft: Brood War is an official expansion pack for StarCraft, developed by Blizzard Entertainment and Saffire. Released for Windows and Mac OS on December 18, 1998, it continues the events of StarCraft. The story begins shortly after the original game ends, showing the Protoss’ struggle to survive and the United Earth Directorate’s involvement in Terran affairs. Sarah Kerrigan and her Zerg forces pose a growing threat to both the Protoss and Earth. The expansion added seven new units, improved artificial intelligence, new terrain graphics, and better tools for creating in-game scenes. It was praised for fixing balance issues, being as detailed as a full game, 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.

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. In July 2019, Blizzard released StarCraft: Cartooned, a graphics update by Carbot Animations. This update applies to all game modes and menus in StarCraft: Remastered.

A fan-made mod called StarCraft: Mass Recall was released in 2011 for StarCraft II. It includes the original StarCraft and Brood War campaigns, using the StarCraft II engine. This made the game more difficult than the original. The mod was completed in 2019 and received minor updates.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is the official sequel to StarCraft, released for Windows and Mac OS on July 27, 2010. It was announced in 2007 with a cinematic trailer and gameplay demo. 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 Heart of the Swarm (2013) and Legacy of the Void (2015) focus on the Zerg and Protoss, respectively. The story of Wings of Liberty begins four years after the end of Brood War and follows Jim Raynor’s fight against the Terran Dominion.

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm is an expansion pack for Wings of Liberty, released on March 12, 2013. It is the second part of the StarCraft II trilogy. It includes new units, multiplayer changes, and a campaign focusing on Kerrigan and the Zerg. The campaign has 27 missions (20 main 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 to all three races and changes the game’s economy system. The story follows the Protoss as they reclaim their homeworld and Kerrigan as she defeats the greatest threat to the universe. 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, such as Nova Covert Ops, which focuses on the character Nova. The first episode was released on March 29, 2016, and did not require purchasing StarCraft II. Blizzard also planned new commanders for the co-op mode in Legacy of the Void, with Karax being the first added for free.

The success of StarCraft led to two authorized add-on titles and one failed attempt to create a game in a different genre. Insurrection, the first add-on, was released in 1998 by Aztech New Media with Blizzard’s approval. Its story continues the events of the original game.

Development

Blizzard Entertainment started working on StarCraft in 1995, shortly after beginning work on Diablo. The development was led by Chris Metzen and James Phinney, who also created the game's imaginary world. Using the Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness game engine as a base, StarCraft first showed the game at E3 1996. The game's success led to the creation of two official add-ons, both released in 1998. However, critics did not strongly approve of these add-ons. StarCraft also introduced Blizzard Entertainment's film department. Before this, cinematic cut scenes were often seen as unrelated to the game, but with StarCraft and later Brood War, Blizzard created high-quality cinematics that were important to the story. This helped change how people viewed such cut scenes and made Blizzard one of the first companies to improve their quality.

StarCraft's success inspired a third-party developer, Microstar Software, to release an unauthorized add-on called Stellar Forces in May 1998. Blizzard Entertainment sued Microstar for selling the add-on, arguing that the product was not approved and used StarCraft's level editing software, which broke the end user license agreement.

In November 1998, Blizzard Entertainment won the court case against Microstar Software. As part of the settlement, Microstar agreed to pay an amount not revealed in the case, destroy all remaining copies of Stellar Forces, and formally apologize to Blizzard Entertainment.

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 tasks like programming, level design, visuals, and audio effects.

In 2001, StarCraft: Ghost began development under Nihilistic Software, with plans to release it for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube by late 2003. Unlike previous StarCraft games, Ghost was to be a tactical third-person action game. While the press praised the decision to make the game for consoles, delays occurred, and Nihilistic Software stopped working on the project during the third quarter of 2004. Blizzard stated that Nihilistic had completed its tasks and that the game would be released on time. The game was never released, though footage believed to be from the game was shared online in 2021 before being removed at Blizzard's request.

StarCraft II was announced on May 19, 2007, nearly 10 years after the original, at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in Seoul, South Korea. StarCraft II was being developed under the codename Medusa 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, who is 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, while the music in movie-like scenes is allowed to be more unique. 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 stated 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 mentioned in interviews that his team aimed to create a style similar to movie scores for StarCraft II. In a short comment for Blizzard, he described how the orchestral music for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty was performed by 78 members of the San Francisco Symphony and Opera. The music was recorded at the Skywalker stage at the Lucasfilm Ranch in Marin County, California, under the name "Skywalker Symphony Orchestra," with Eímear Noone as the conductor. He also mentioned that a 32-voice choir was used 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), composed 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 members of the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra.

In an interview in 2013, Brower said 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, an anthology, and two graphic novels published by Simon & Schuster. There are also two short stories. At BlizzCon 2007, Chris Metzen said he wanted to write a complete book version of StarCraft and Brood War. The first book, StarCraft: Uprising, was written by Micky Neilson, a Blizzard employee, and released as an e-book in December 2000. It 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. It connects StarCraft and Brood War. Tracy Hickman wrote StarCraft: Speed of Darkness, published in June 2002, which tells the story of a Confederate marine during the early stages of the game. The first four books, including Uprising, were later released together in an anthology called The StarCraft Archive in November 2007.

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 follows Jim Raynor’s perspective. In November 2006, StarCraft Ghost: Nova was released. It was written by Keith R.A. DeCandido and focuses on the early life of the character Nova, who was originally part of the canceled StarCraft: Ghost game. Christie Golden, who previously wrote books for Blizzard’s Warcraft series, wrote a trilogy called StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga in 2007–2009. The trilogy connects StarCraft and StarCraft II. I, Mengsk, published in 2009 by Graham McNeill, explores 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 a spy. In 2011, StarCraft Ghost: Spectres was released as a sequel to Nova. Timothy Zahn wrote StarCraft: Evolution in 2016.

Blizzard also published two short stories in Amazing Stories magazine: StarCraft: Revelations (written by Chris Metzen and Sam Moore) and StarCraft: Hybrid (written by Micky Neilson). Both stories were illustrated by Samwise Didier. At New York Comic-Con 2008, TokyoPop announced two graphic novel series: StarCraft: Frontline (a collection of short stories) and StarCraft: Ghost Academy (written by Keith R.A. DeCandido, following characters like Nova). A 2010 graphic novel by Wildstorm and DC Comics features outlaws working on a mission to kill Jim Raynor.

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

In 2015, Blizzard released Heroes of the Storm, a multiplayer game where players can control characters like Artanis, Kerrigan, Nova, Raynor, and Zeratul. The game includes two battlefields inspired by StarCraft and uses music from the game’s soundtrack. Heroes of the Storm began as a custom map called “Blizzard DOTA” in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty.

Reception and cultural impact

The StarCraft series has been very successful in sales. After its release, StarCraft became the best-selling PC game that year, selling more than 1.5 million copies around the world. Over the next ten years, StarCraft sold more than 9.5 million copies globally, with 4.5 million of these sold in South Korea. Since its first release, Blizzard Entertainment reported that its online multiplayer service, Battle.net, grew by 800 percent. Ten years after its release, StarCraft remained one of the most popular online games worldwide. After its release, StarCraft quickly became popular in South Korea, creating a strong professional gaming scene. Professional gamers in South Korea are well-known media figures, and StarCraft games are broadcast on three television channels that focus on gaming. StarCraft has won 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 making real-time strategy games use sides with different abilities and strengths, instead of sides that are equally strong.

Although the games 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 its movie-like scenes "feel like part of the story rather than an afterthought." IGN said that Brood War's improvements "added to the core gameplay without losing the original feel," while GameSpot mentioned that the expansion was made with the same care as the original game.

In 1999, Next Generation listed Warcraft and StarCraft as number 32 on their "Top 50 Games of All Time," saying that StarCraft "took it all a step further" with an innovative story 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 GameRankings score of 93%, 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 GameRankings score of 86%. 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 GameRankings 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 program created by Google's DeepMind (called "AlphaStar") beat professional players in StarCraft II for the first time.

By the end of 2015, the StarCraft series 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 over $1 billion in total revenue.