.gif)
StarCraft (series)
Encyclopedia
StarCraft is a military science fiction
media franchise
created by Chris Metzen
and James Phinney, and owned by Blizzard Entertainment
. The series centers on a galactic struggle for dominance between three species—the adaptable and mobile Terrans, the insectoid Zerg, and the enigmatic Protoss—in a distant part of the Milky Way
galaxy known as the Koprulu Sector at the beginning of the 26th century. The series debuted with the video game StarCraft
in 1998. Since then it has grown to include a number of other games as well as eight novelization
s, two Amazing Stories
articles, a board game
, and other licensed merchandise such as collectible statues and toys.
Blizzard Entertainment began planning StarCraft in 1995, with a development team led by Metzen and Phinney. The game debuted at E3 1996, and uses a modified Warcraft II game engine
. StarCraft also marked the creation of Blizzard Entertainment's film department; the game introduced high quality cinematics integral to the storyline of the series. Most of the original development team for StarCraft returned to work on the game's official expansion pack, Brood War
; the game's development began shortly after StarCraft was released. In 2001, StarCraft: Ghost
began development under Nihilistic Software
. Unlike the previous real-time strategy
games in the series, Ghost was to be a stealth-action game
. After three years of development, work on the game was postponed in 2004. Development of StarCraft II began in 2003; the game was later announced on 19 May 2007 and was released on July 27, 2010.
The original game and its official expansion have been praised as one of the benchmark real-time strategy games of its time. The series has gathered a solid following around the world, particularly in South Korea
, where professional players and teams participate in matches, earn sponsorships, and compete in televised matches. As of 31 May 2007, StarCraft and Brood War have sold almost 10 million copies combined. In addition, the series was awarded a star on the Walk of Game
in 2006, and holds four Guinness World Records
in the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition
of 2008.
known as the Koprulu Sector. Millenia before any of the events of the games, a species known as the Xel'Naga genetically engineered the Protoss and later the Zerg in attempts to create pure beings. These experiments backfire and the Xel'Naga are largely destroyed by the Zerg. Decades before the beginning of StarCraft in 2499, the hardline international government of Earth
, the United Earth Directorate (UED), commissions a colonization program as part of a solution to overpopulation. However, the computers automating the colony ships malfunction, propelling the Terran colonists far off course to the edge of Protoss space. Out of contact with Earth, they form various factions to maintain their interests. Intrigued by the behavior and mentality of the Terrans, the Protoss remain hidden to examine the humans, while protecting them from other threats without their knowledge. However, the Zerg target the Terrans for assimilation to harness their psionic potential, forcing the Protoss to destroy tainted Terran colonies to contain the Zerg infestation.
StarCraft begins just days after the first of these attacks, where the predominant Terran government, the Confederacy of Man, falls into a state of panic as it comes under attack by both the Zerg and the Protoss, in addition to increasing rebel activity led by Arcturus Mengsk against its rule. The Confederacy eventually succumbs to Mengsk's rebels when they use Confederate technology to lure the Zerg into attacking the Confederate capital, Tarsonis. In the consequent power vacuum, Mengsk crowns himself emperor of a new Terran Dominion. However, during the assault on Tarsonis, Mengsk allows the Zerg to capture and infest his psychic second-in-command, Sarah Kerrigan
. This betrayal prompts Mengsk's other commander, Jim Raynor
, to desert him with a small army. Having retreated with Kerrigan to their primary hive clusters, the Zerg are assaulted by Protoss forces commanded by Tassadar and the dark templar Zeratul
. Through assassinating a Zerg cerebrate, Zeratul inadvertently allows the Overmind to learn the location of the Protoss homeworld, Aiur. The Overmind quickly launches an invasion to assimilate the Protoss and gain genetic perfection. Pursued by his own people as a heretic for siding with the dark templar, Tassadar returns with Zeratul to Aiur and with the assistance of Raynor and the templar Fenix, Tassadar launches an attack on the Overmind and ultimately sacrifices himself to kill the creature.
In Brood War, the Protoss are now led by Zeratul and Artanis. They begin to evacuate the surviving population of Aiur to the dark templar homeworld of Shakuras under a fragile alliance between the two untrusting branches of the Protoss. On the Shakuras, they are misled by Kerrigan into attacking the Zerg to advance Kerrigan's quest to securing power over the Zerg. This deception comes after she reveals that a new Overmind has entered incubation. Meanwhile, Earth decides to take action in the sector, sending a fleet to conquer the Terran Dominion and capture the new Overmind. Although successfully taking the Dominion capital Korhal and enslaving the Overmind, the UED's efforts to capture Mengsk are thwarted by a double agent working for Kerrigan, Samir Duran. Kerrigan, allying with Mengsk, Fenix and Raynor, launches a campaign against the UED, recapturing Korhal. However, she turns against her allies; Fenix and Duke both perish in the ensuing attacks. Kerrigan later blackmails Zeratul into killing the new Overmind, giving her full control over the entire Zerg Swarm. After defeating a retaliatory attack by the Protoss, Dominion and the UED, consequently destroying the last of the UED fleet, Kerrigan and her Zerg broods become the dominant power in the sector.
, where the player views the events as a military commander for each of the three species. In addition, two spin-off titles have been released; these are authorized expansion packs to the original which focus on other characters and settings based at the same time as the main storyline. Like the main series, these two titles are also real-time strategy games. A spin-off, StarCraft: Ghost
, which was to be a third person action
-stealth game was in development, but has been placed on indefinite hiatus
.
, released for Windows
on 31 March 1998, is the first video game in the StarCraft series. A science fiction
real-time strategy game, StarCraft is set in a distant sector of the Milky Way galaxy. A Mac OS
version of the game was released by Blizzard Entertainment
in March 1999. A Nintendo 64
port including StarCraft, Brood War and a new secret mission "Resurrection IV" was released in the United States on 13 June 2000. The game's story revolves around the appearance of two alien races in Terran space, and each race's attempts to survive and adapt over the others. The player assumes three roles through the course of the three campaigns: a Confederate colonial governor who becomes a revolutionary commander, a Zerg cerebrate pushing forward the species' doctrine of assimilation, and a Protoss fleet executor tasked with defending the Protoss from the Zerg. StarCraft soon gained critical acclaim, winning numerous awards, including being labelled "the best real-time strategy game ever made" and being ranked the seventh best game of all time by IGN
in both 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 30 November 1998, the expansion directly continues the events of StarCraft. The expansion's story continues only days after the conclusion of the original game. It starts with the Protoss' struggle to ensure the survival of their species and continues with the intervention of the United Earth Directorate into local Terran affairs. The livelihood of both the Protoss and the previously silent Earth government is then threatened by the ever-increasing power of Sarah Kerrigan and her Zerg broods. In addition, the expansion introduces new features and improvements. A total of seven new units with different functions and abilities are included, the artificial intelligence behavior was modified, new graphical tilesets for terrain were added and the game's level editor
received improved scripting tools to facilitate cut scenes with the in-game engine
. The expansion received critical praise for fixing various balance issues with the original game, development attention on par with that of a full game and for continuing with single player campaigns that were heavily story-driven.
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. The game was announced at the Worldwide Invitational in South Korea on 19 May 2007 with a pre-rendered cinematic cut scene trailer and a gameplay demonstration of the Protoss. Further demonstrations regarding the game's new features have been showcased at subsequent Blizzcon
s and other games conventions. The game incorporates a new 3D graphics engine and adds new features such as the Havok
physics engine
. StarCraft II also incorporates DirectX 10 level effects. Blizzard Entertainment released the game on July 27, 2010. Originally envisioned as a single game, StarCraft II was split into three parts during development, one for focusing on each race. The base game, Wings of Liberty, follows the Terrans, while two expansion packs, Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void are to be released to complement Wings of Liberty after release and further the story from the views of the Zerg and Protoss, respectively. The story of Wings of Liberty continues from four years after the conclusion of Brood War, and revolves around Jim Raynor's struggles against the Terran Dominion.
. The second campaign has the player directing a Protoss task force sent to clear the Zerg infestation of the colony by any means necessary. In the final campaign the player assumes the role of a Zerg cerebrate, whose goal is to crush all opposition on the surface. The expansion contains 30 new campaign missions and over 100 new multiplayer maps, although it does not include new content such as units and graphical terrain tilesets. Insurrection was criticized by reviewers for lacking the quality of the original game and it is not widely available. Although the add-on is authorized by Blizzard Entertainment, they offer no comment on support or availability of the game.
Retribution is the second of the two authorized add-on packs released for StarCraft. The add-on was developed by Stardock
and published by WizardWorks Software
. It was released for the PC in late 1998. The game is set during the second campaign in StarCraft, revolving around the acquisition of a crystal of immense power connected to the Xel'Naga. Divided into three campaigns, the player assumes the roles of a Protoss fleet executor, the commander of a Dominion task force and a Zerg cerebrate, all tasked with retrieving the crystal from a Dominion colony and getting it off the planet as quickly as possible. As with its predecessor, Retribution does not include any new gameplay features beyond its single player campaigns and an abundance of multiplayer levels. The add-on was not received with critical support, and instead was regarded as average but at least challenging. Retribution is not widely available, and Blizzard Entertainment offers no comment regarding support or the availability of Retribution despite authorizing the add-on.
StarCraft: Ghost
is a tactical stealth game for consoles developed under supervision of Blizzard Entertainment. Announced in 2002, the game was constantly delayed due to various issues, most notably including a change of development team from Nihilistic Software
to Swingin' Ape Studios
in July 2004. As updates for the game became less frequent and the graphics and game mechanics more outdated, suspicion began to grow that Blizzard would cancel the game. On 24 March 2006, Blizzard indefinitely postponed the game's development.
, Blizzard Entertainment's Rob Pardo
has indicated that he would like the game to be completed in the future, and Blizzard Entertainment refuses to list the game as having been canceled.
Blizzard Entertainment
began planning development on StarCraft in 1995, shortly after the beginning of development for Diablo
. The development was led by Chris Metzen
and James Phinney, who also created the game's fictional universe
. Using the Warcraft II game engine as a base, StarCraft made its debut at E3 1996. The game's success led to the development of two authorized add-ons, which were both released in 1998. However, neither of the two add-ons were particularly well received by critics. StarCraft also marked the debut of Blizzard Entertainment's film department. Previously, cinematic cut scenes were seen as simply gap fillers that often deviated from the game, but with StarCraft and later Brood War introducing high quality cinematics integral to the storyline of the series, Blizzard Entertainment is cited as having changed this perception and became one of the first game companies to raise the standard regarding such cut scenes.
StarCrafts success also inspired third-party developer Microstar Software to release an unauthorized add-on, entitled Stellar Forces, in May 1998. Blizzard Entertainment consequently filed a lawsuit against Microstar for selling the add-on, arguing that as the product was unauthorized and created using StarCrafts level editing software
, it was a breach of the end user license agreement
.
In November 1998, Blizzard Entertainment won the court case against Microstar Software. In the settlement, Microstar agreed to pay an undisclosed amount in punitive damages and to destroy all remaining copies of Stellar Forces in its possession, as well as to formally apologize to Blizzard Entertainment.
After the release of the first two add-on packs, Blizzard Entertainment announced the official expansion pack to StarCraft, entitled Brood War. Most of the team at Blizzard Entertainment responsible for StarCraft returned to work on Brood War. Development on Brood War began shortly after StarCrafts release, and Blizzard Entertainment were assisted by members of Saffire
, who were contracted for a variety of tasks consisting of programming and design for levels, visuals and audio effects.
In 2001, StarCraft: Ghost began development under Nihilistic Software
, with the aim of releasing the game for the Xbox
, PlayStation 2
and Nintendo GameCube
during late 2003. Unlike previous real-time strategy StarCraft titles, Ghost was to be a tactical third-person action game. Although the press was positive about the video game console direction taken by Ghost, the game was consistently delayed, and during the third quarter of 2004, Nihilistic Software discontinued their work with the project. Blizzard stated that Nihilistic Software had completed the tasks it had been contracted for and that the game would be delivered on time. StarCraft II was announced on 19 May 2007, nearly a decade after the original, at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in Seoul
, South Korea. StarCraft II was being developed, under the codename Medusa, for concurrent release on Windows XP
, Windows Vista
and Mac OS X
. Blizzard announced a release date for the 27th of July, 2010. Development on the game began in 2003, shortly after Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
was released.
The StarCraft series is supported by eight novelization
s, with at least two more in the works, all published by Simon & Schuster
. At BlizzCon
2007, Chris Metzen
stated that he hoped to novelize the entirety of StarCraft and Brood War into a definitive text-based story. The first novel, StarCraft: Uprising, was written by Micky Neilson, a Blizzard Entertainment
employee, and originally released only as an e-book
in December 2000. The novel follows the origins of the character Sarah Kerrigan
. The second novel, entitled StarCraft: Liberty's Crusade, serves as an adaptation of the first campaign of StarCraft, following on a journalist following a number of the key Terran characters in the series. Written by Jeff Grubb
and published in March 2001, it was the first StarCraft novel to be released in paperback
. StarCraft: Shadow of the Xel'Naga, published in July 2001 is the third novel, written by Kevin Anderson
under the pseudonym Gabriel Mesta. It serves as a link between StarCraft and Brood War. The fantasy author Tracy Hickman
was brought in to write the fourth novel, StarCraft: Speed of Darkness, which was published in June 2002. Speed of Darkness is written from the viewpoint of a Confederate marine
during the early stages of StarCraft. The first four novels, including the e-book Uprising, were later re-released as a single anthology entitled The StarCraft Archive in November 2007.
A fifth novel entitled StarCraft: Queen of Blades was published in June 2006. Written by Aaron S. Rosenberg
, it is a novelization of the second campaign in StarCraft from the perspective of Jim Raynor
. This was followed in November 2006 by StarCraft Ghost: Nova, a book focusing on the early origins of the character of Nova from the postponed StarCraft: Ghost
game. Written by Keith R.A. DeCandido, the novel was meant to accompany the release of StarCraft: Ghost, but was continued despite the postponement of the game. In 2007 Christie Golden
, an author whose previous work included novels in Blizzard's Warcraft series
, was brought in to write a trilogy entitled the StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga. The trilogy acts as a link between StarCraft and its sequel StarCraft II. The first installment, Firstborn being published in May 2007 and Shadow Hunters, the second novel, being published in November 2007. The final part of the trilogy, Twilight was released in June 2009. Two more upcoming novels have been announced: I, Mengsk by Graham McNeill
and Spectres, which will be a sequel to DeCandido's Nova.
In addition to these, Blizzard Entertainment authorized two short stories in Amazing Stories
magazine, entitled StarCraft: Revelations and StarCraft: Hybrid. Revelations was authored by series creator Chris Metzen
and Sam Moore, a Blizzard employee, and was featured on the cover of the 1999 spring edition with art by Blizzard's art director Samwise Didier
. Hybrid was written by Micky Neilson and again was accompanied by artwork by Didier; the short story was published in the spring edition of 2000. At New York Comic-Con in 2008, TokyoPop
announced that they would be producing a number of StarCraft graphic novel
s. Two series were announced: StarCraft: Frontline, which will be a series of short story anthologies, and Ghost Academy, which will be written by Keith R.A. DeCandido and follow several characters, such as Nova, during their training as the psychic assassins called "ghosts". A further graphic novel set for a 2009 release, produced by Wildstorm
and DC Comics
, was revealed in October 2008.
, were also produced, displaying 1/30 scale versions of the marine
and the hydralisk. In addition, Blizzard Entertainment teamed up with Fantasy Flight Games
to create a board game based in the StarCraft universe. Blizzard Entertainment also licensed Wizards of the Coast
to produce an Alternity
based game entitled StarCraft Adventures
.
The StarCraft series has been a commercial success. After its release, StarCraft became the best-selling PC game for that year, selling over 1.5 million copies worldwide. In the next decade, StarCraft sold over 9.5 million copies across the globe, with 4.5 million of these being sold in South Korea
. Since the initial release of StarCraft, Blizzard Entertainment
reported that its Battle.net
online multiplayer service grew by 800 percent. StarCraft remains one of the most popular online games in the world. After its release, StarCraft rapidly grew in popularity in South Korea, establishing a successful pro-gaming scene
. Pro-gamers in South Korea are niche media celebrities and StarCraft games broadcast over three television channels dedicated to gaming. StarCraft has won numerous Game of the Year
awards, is often described as one of the best real-time strategy games made, and is widely credited with popularizing the use of distinct and unique sides—as opposed to sides of equal ability and strength—in real-time strategy games.
Although Insurrection and Retribution were not particularly well received, StarCraft: Brood War generally received very positive reviews, with an aggregate Game Rankings
score of 96%. The magazine PC Zone
gave Brood War a short but flattering review, describing it as having "definitely been worth the wait" and also drew note to the cinematic cut scenes, stating that they "actually feel like part of the story rather than an afterthought." IGN
stated that Brood Wars enhancements were "enough to enrich the core gameplay without losing the flavor" while GameSpot
noted that the expansion was developed with the same level of care as the full game.
The release of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty resulted very well, it has sold 1.8 million copies within the first forty eight hours of release which breaks the record of best selling strategy game in the history of the gaming industry and has received very positive reviews with an aggregate Game Rankings
score of 92% and has been nominated as the "Best PC Game of 2010" on Gamespot. As time came from release, Korea already hosted a number of tournaments, for example, the GOMTV Global Starcraft II League
(GSL).
Military science fiction
Military science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction in which the principal characters are members of a military service and an armed conflict is taking place, normally in space, or on a planet other than Earth...
media franchise
Media franchise
A media franchise is an intellectual property involving the characters, setting and trademarks of an original work of media , such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or a video game. Generally, a whole series is made in a particular medium, along with merchandising and endorsements...
created by Chris Metzen
Chris Metzen
Christopher Vincent Metzen is an American game designer, artist, voice actor and author known for his work creating the fictional universes and scripts for Blizzard Entertainment's three major award-winning media franchises: Warcraft, Diablo and StarCraft. On occasion, Metzen has published his art...
and James Phinney, and owned by Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher founded on February 8, 1991 under the name Silicon & Synapse by three graduates of UCLA, Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce and currently owned by French company Activision Blizzard...
. The series centers on a galactic struggle for dominance between three species—the adaptable and mobile Terrans, the insectoid Zerg, and the enigmatic Protoss—in a distant part of the Milky Way
Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
galaxy known as the Koprulu Sector at the beginning of the 26th century. The series debuted with the video game StarCraft
StarCraft
StarCraft is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. The first game of the StarCraft series was released for Microsoft Windows on 31 March 1998. With more than 11 million copies sold worldwide as of February 2009, it is one of the best-selling...
in 1998. Since then it has grown to include a number of other games as well as eight novelization
Novelization
A novelization is a novel that is written based on some other media story form rather than as an original work.Novelizations of films usually add background material not found in the original work to flesh out the story, because novels are generally longer than screenplays...
s, two Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...
articles, a board game
StarCraft the Board Game
StarCraft: The Board Game, published by Fantasy Flight Games, is a game inspired by the 1998 computer game StarCraft. Players take control of the three distinctive races featured in the video games, the Terrans, the Protoss, or the Zerg, to engage in battle across multiple worlds in order to...
, and other licensed merchandise such as collectible statues and toys.
Blizzard Entertainment began planning StarCraft in 1995, with a development team led by Metzen and Phinney. The game debuted at E3 1996, and uses a modified Warcraft II game engine
Game engine
A game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers...
. StarCraft also marked the creation of Blizzard Entertainment's film department; the game introduced high quality cinematics integral to the storyline of the series. Most of the original development team for StarCraft returned to work on the game's official expansion pack, Brood War
StarCraft: Brood War
StarCraft: Brood War is the expansion pack for the award winning military science fiction, real-time strategy video game StarCraft. Released in 1998 for Windows and Mac OS, it was co-developed by Saffire and Blizzard Entertainment. The expansion pack introduced new campaigns, map tilesets, music,...
; the game's development began shortly after StarCraft was released. In 2001, StarCraft: Ghost
StarCraft: Ghost
StarCraft: Ghost is a military science fiction stealth-action video game under suspended development by Blizzard Entertainment. Part of Blizzard's StarCraft series, the game was announced in 2002 and was to be developed by Nihilistic Software for the Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, and PlayStation 2 video...
began development under Nihilistic Software
Nihilistic Software
-History:Nihilistic was founded in March 1998 by Ray Gresko, Robert Huebner, and Steve Tietze. Gresko and Huebner had formerly worked at LucasArts, and Tietze had worked at Rogue Entertainment...
. Unlike the previous real-time strategy
Real-time strategy
Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
games in the series, Ghost was to be a stealth-action game
Action game
Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some...
. After three years of development, work on the game was postponed in 2004. Development of StarCraft II began in 2003; the game was later announced on 19 May 2007 and was released on July 27, 2010.
The original game and its official expansion have been praised as one of the benchmark real-time strategy games of its time. The series has gathered a solid following around the world, particularly in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, where professional players and teams participate in matches, earn sponsorships, and compete in televised matches. As of 31 May 2007, StarCraft and Brood War have sold almost 10 million copies combined. In addition, the series was awarded a star on the Walk of Game
Walk of Game
The Walk of Game is a year-round attraction in the United States honoring the icons and pioneers of the video game industry, and is located inside Metreon, an entertainment shopping center in San Francisco, California...
in 2006, and holds four Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
in the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition
Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition
Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition is a Guinness World Records book dedicated to video games. The first edition was released in February 2008 in association with the video games world records' tracking organization Twin Galaxies. The second edition was released in 2009...
of 2008.
Story
The story focuses on the activities of the three species in a part of the Milky WayMilky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
known as the Koprulu Sector. Millenia before any of the events of the games, a species known as the Xel'Naga genetically engineered the Protoss and later the Zerg in attempts to create pure beings. These experiments backfire and the Xel'Naga are largely destroyed by the Zerg. Decades before the beginning of StarCraft in 2499, the hardline international government of Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, the United Earth Directorate (UED), commissions a colonization program as part of a solution to overpopulation. However, the computers automating the colony ships malfunction, propelling the Terran colonists far off course to the edge of Protoss space. Out of contact with Earth, they form various factions to maintain their interests. Intrigued by the behavior and mentality of the Terrans, the Protoss remain hidden to examine the humans, while protecting them from other threats without their knowledge. However, the Zerg target the Terrans for assimilation to harness their psionic potential, forcing the Protoss to destroy tainted Terran colonies to contain the Zerg infestation.
StarCraft begins just days after the first of these attacks, where the predominant Terran government, the Confederacy of Man, falls into a state of panic as it comes under attack by both the Zerg and the Protoss, in addition to increasing rebel activity led by Arcturus Mengsk against its rule. The Confederacy eventually succumbs to Mengsk's rebels when they use Confederate technology to lure the Zerg into attacking the Confederate capital, Tarsonis. In the consequent power vacuum, Mengsk crowns himself emperor of a new Terran Dominion. However, during the assault on Tarsonis, Mengsk allows the Zerg to capture and infest his psychic second-in-command, Sarah Kerrigan
Sarah Kerrigan
Sarah Louise Kerrigan, the self-styled Queen of Blades, is a major character and the predominant villain in Blizzard Entertainment's StarCraft series of video games and novels. The character was created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney, and her appearance was originally designed by Chris Metzen...
. This betrayal prompts Mengsk's other commander, Jim Raynor
Jim Raynor
James Eugene "Jim" Raynor is a fictional character and a major protagonist in Blizzard Entertainment's science fiction StarCraft series. Raynor is a predominant character in the science fiction real-time strategy video games StarCraft and Brood War, and is the player character in StarCraft II:...
, to desert him with a small army. Having retreated with Kerrigan to their primary hive clusters, the Zerg are assaulted by Protoss forces commanded by Tassadar and the dark templar Zeratul
Zeratul
Zeratul is one of the central characters in the StarCraft series. At six hundred and thirty-five years old and holding the rank of prelate, Zeratul is a member of the Nerazim, better known as the dark templar, whose forebears were exiled from the protoss homeworld of Aiur over a thousand years ago...
. Through assassinating a Zerg cerebrate, Zeratul inadvertently allows the Overmind to learn the location of the Protoss homeworld, Aiur. The Overmind quickly launches an invasion to assimilate the Protoss and gain genetic perfection. Pursued by his own people as a heretic for siding with the dark templar, Tassadar returns with Zeratul to Aiur and with the assistance of Raynor and the templar Fenix, Tassadar launches an attack on the Overmind and ultimately sacrifices himself to kill the creature.
In Brood War, the Protoss are now led by Zeratul and Artanis. They begin to evacuate the surviving population of Aiur to the dark templar homeworld of Shakuras under a fragile alliance between the two untrusting branches of the Protoss. On the Shakuras, they are misled by Kerrigan into attacking the Zerg to advance Kerrigan's quest to securing power over the Zerg. This deception comes after she reveals that a new Overmind has entered incubation. Meanwhile, Earth decides to take action in the sector, sending a fleet to conquer the Terran Dominion and capture the new Overmind. Although successfully taking the Dominion capital Korhal and enslaving the Overmind, the UED's efforts to capture Mengsk are thwarted by a double agent working for Kerrigan, Samir Duran. Kerrigan, allying with Mengsk, Fenix and Raynor, launches a campaign against the UED, recapturing Korhal. However, she turns against her allies; Fenix and Duke both perish in the ensuing attacks. Kerrigan later blackmails Zeratul into killing the new Overmind, giving her full control over the entire Zerg Swarm. After defeating a retaliatory attack by the Protoss, Dominion and the UED, consequently destroying the last of the UED fleet, Kerrigan and her Zerg broods become the dominant power in the sector.
Games
The StarCraft series includes a core set of titles which carry the main storyline. These games were released in chronological order, with each new title following on from the events that are depicted in the previous title. A full second game, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, was released on July 27, 2010, taking place 4 years after the end of Brood War. Two expansions, Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void, are currently planned. All the games in the main series are real-time strategy gamesReal-time strategy
Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
, where the player views the events as a military commander for each of the three species. In addition, two spin-off titles have been released; these are authorized expansion packs to the original which focus on other characters and settings based at the same time as the main storyline. Like the main series, these two titles are also real-time strategy games. A spin-off, StarCraft: Ghost
StarCraft: Ghost
StarCraft: Ghost is a military science fiction stealth-action video game under suspended development by Blizzard Entertainment. Part of Blizzard's StarCraft series, the game was announced in 2002 and was to be developed by Nihilistic Software for the Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, and PlayStation 2 video...
, which was to be a third person action
Action game
Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some...
-stealth game was in development, but has been placed on indefinite hiatus
Development hell
In the jargon of the media-industry, "development hell" is a period during which a film or other project is trapped in development...
.
Main series
StarCraftStarCraft
StarCraft is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. The first game of the StarCraft series was released for Microsoft Windows on 31 March 1998. With more than 11 million copies sold worldwide as of February 2009, it is one of the best-selling...
, released for Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
on 31 March 1998, is the first video game in the StarCraft series. A science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
real-time strategy game, StarCraft is set in a distant sector of the Milky Way galaxy. A Mac OS
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
version of the game was released by Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher founded on February 8, 1991 under the name Silicon & Synapse by three graduates of UCLA, Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce and currently owned by French company Activision Blizzard...
in March 1999. A Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
port including StarCraft, Brood War and a new secret mission "Resurrection IV" was released in the United States on 13 June 2000. The game's story revolves around the appearance of two alien races in Terran space, and each race's attempts to survive and adapt over the others. The player assumes three roles through the course of the three campaigns: a Confederate colonial governor who becomes a revolutionary commander, a Zerg cerebrate pushing forward the species' doctrine of assimilation, and a Protoss fleet executor tasked with defending the Protoss from the Zerg. StarCraft soon gained critical acclaim, winning numerous awards, including being labelled "the best real-time strategy game ever made" and being ranked the seventh best game of all time by IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
in both 2003 and 2005, and the eleventh best game in 2007.
StarCraft: Brood War
StarCraft: Brood War
StarCraft: Brood War is the expansion pack for the award winning military science fiction, real-time strategy video game StarCraft. Released in 1998 for Windows and Mac OS, it was co-developed by Saffire and Blizzard Entertainment. The expansion pack introduced new campaigns, map tilesets, music,...
is the official expansion pack for StarCraft, developed by Blizzard Entertainment and Saffire
Saffire (video game developer)
Saffire was a contract video game developer located in American Fork, Utah. It is noted both for porting games and making some original titles. It was founded by Sculptured Software co-founder, Hal Rushton. They released their last title, Thunderbirds, in 2004 and went out of business sometime...
. Released for Windows and Mac OS in the United States on 30 November 1998, the expansion directly continues the events of StarCraft. The expansion's story continues only days after the conclusion of the original game. It starts with the Protoss' struggle to ensure the survival of their species and continues with the intervention of the United Earth Directorate into local Terran affairs. The livelihood of both the Protoss and the previously silent Earth government is then threatened by the ever-increasing power of Sarah Kerrigan and her Zerg broods. In addition, the expansion introduces new features and improvements. A total of seven new units with different functions and abilities are included, the artificial intelligence behavior was modified, new graphical tilesets for terrain were added and the game's level editor
Level editor
A level editor is a software tool used to design levels, maps, campaigns, etc and virtual worlds for a video game. In some cases the creator of a video game releases an official level editor for a game, but other times the community of fans step in to fill the void...
received improved scripting tools to facilitate cut scenes with the in-game engine
Game engine
A game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers...
. The expansion received critical praise for fixing various balance issues with the original game, development attention on par with that of a full game and for continuing with single player campaigns that were heavily story-driven.
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is the official sequel to StarCraft released for Windows and Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
by Blizzard Entertainment on July 27, 2010. The game was announced at the Worldwide Invitational in South Korea on 19 May 2007 with a pre-rendered cinematic cut scene trailer and a gameplay demonstration of the Protoss. Further demonstrations regarding the game's new features have been showcased at subsequent Blizzcon
BlizzCon
"BlizzCon" is an annual convention held by Blizzard Entertainment to celebrate their major franchises: Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo...
s and other games conventions. The game incorporates a new 3D graphics engine and adds new features such as the Havok
Havok (software)
Havok Physics is a physics engine developed by Irish company Havok. It is designed primarily for video games, and allows for real-time collision and dynamics of rigid bodies in three dimensions. It provides multiple types of dynamic constraints between rigid bodies , and has a highly optimized...
physics engine
Physics engine
A physics engine is computer software that provides an approximate simulation of certain physical systems, such as rigid body dynamics , soft body dynamics, and fluid dynamics, of use in the domains of computer graphics, video games and film. Their main uses are in video games , in which case the...
. StarCraft II also incorporates DirectX 10 level effects. Blizzard Entertainment released the game on July 27, 2010. Originally envisioned as a single game, StarCraft II was split into three parts during development, one for focusing on each race. The base game, Wings of Liberty, follows the Terrans, while two expansion packs, Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void are to be released to complement Wings of Liberty after release and further the story from the views of the Zerg and Protoss, respectively. The story of Wings of Liberty continues from four years after the conclusion of Brood War, and revolves around Jim Raynor's struggles against the Terran Dominion.
Spin-off titles
The success of StarCraft has spurred the creation of two authorized add-on titles to StarCraft, as well as a deviation into genres other than real-time strategy. Insurrection was the first add-on pack released for StarCraft. Although developed and published by Aztech New Media, it is authorized by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released for the PC on 31 July 1998. The expansion's story focuses on a Confederate colony during the course of the first campaign of StarCraft. As in StarCraft, the player takes control of each race in three separate campaigns. In the first campaign, Terran colonists attempt to defend themselves from the Zerg invasion of the sector as well as from a rising insurgencyInsurgency
An insurgency is an armed rebellion against a constituted authority when those taking part in the rebellion are not recognized as belligerents...
. The second campaign has the player directing a Protoss task force sent to clear the Zerg infestation of the colony by any means necessary. In the final campaign the player assumes the role of a Zerg cerebrate, whose goal is to crush all opposition on the surface. The expansion contains 30 new campaign missions and over 100 new multiplayer maps, although it does not include new content such as units and graphical terrain tilesets. Insurrection was criticized by reviewers for lacking the quality of the original game and it is not widely available. Although the add-on is authorized by Blizzard Entertainment, they offer no comment on support or availability of the game.
Retribution is the second of the two authorized add-on packs released for StarCraft. The add-on was developed by Stardock
Stardock
Stardock Corporation is a software development company founded in 1991 and incorporated in 1993 as Stardock Systems. Stardock initially developed for the OS/2 platform, but was forced to switch to Windows due to the collapse of the OS/2 software market between 1997 and 1998...
and published by WizardWorks Software
WizardWorks Software
WizardWorks Software was a video game developer and publisher located in Minneapolis, MN. Focused on casual consumer games sold through mass-merchants like Target and Wal-Mart, WizardWorks was best known for publishing the Deer Hunter series of video games developed by Sunstorm Interactive but also...
. It was released for the PC in late 1998. The game is set during the second campaign in StarCraft, revolving around the acquisition of a crystal of immense power connected to the Xel'Naga. Divided into three campaigns, the player assumes the roles of a Protoss fleet executor, the commander of a Dominion task force and a Zerg cerebrate, all tasked with retrieving the crystal from a Dominion colony and getting it off the planet as quickly as possible. As with its predecessor, Retribution does not include any new gameplay features beyond its single player campaigns and an abundance of multiplayer levels. The add-on was not received with critical support, and instead was regarded as average but at least challenging. Retribution is not widely available, and Blizzard Entertainment offers no comment regarding support or the availability of Retribution despite authorizing the add-on.
StarCraft: Ghost
StarCraft: Ghost
StarCraft: Ghost is a military science fiction stealth-action video game under suspended development by Blizzard Entertainment. Part of Blizzard's StarCraft series, the game was announced in 2002 and was to be developed by Nihilistic Software for the Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, and PlayStation 2 video...
is a tactical stealth game for consoles developed under supervision of Blizzard Entertainment. Announced in 2002, the game was constantly delayed due to various issues, most notably including a change of development team from Nihilistic Software
Nihilistic Software
-History:Nihilistic was founded in March 1998 by Ray Gresko, Robert Huebner, and Steve Tietze. Gresko and Huebner had formerly worked at LucasArts, and Tietze had worked at Rogue Entertainment...
to Swingin' Ape Studios
Swingin' Ape Studios
Swingin' Ape Studios is a video game development studio founded in July 2000 by Steve Ranck, Mike Starich and Scott Goffman after leaving Midway Home Entertainment. They had just completed the successful water-based arcade racer, Hydro Thunder....
in July 2004. As updates for the game became less frequent and the graphics and game mechanics more outdated, suspicion began to grow that Blizzard would cancel the game. On 24 March 2006, Blizzard indefinitely postponed the game's development.
Development hell
In the jargon of the media-industry, "development hell" is a period during which a film or other project is trapped in development...
, Blizzard Entertainment's Rob Pardo
Rob Pardo
Rob Pardo is Executive Vice President of Game Design at Blizzard Entertainment. Previously he was the lead designer of World of Warcraft...
has indicated that he would like the game to be completed in the future, and Blizzard Entertainment refuses to list the game as having been canceled.
Development
Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher founded on February 8, 1991 under the name Silicon & Synapse by three graduates of UCLA, Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce and currently owned by French company Activision Blizzard...
began planning development on StarCraft in 1995, shortly after the beginning of development for Diablo
Diablo (video game)
Diablo is a dark fantasy-themed action role-playing game developed by Blizzard North and released by Blizzard Entertainment on December 31, 1996....
. The development was led by Chris Metzen
Chris Metzen
Christopher Vincent Metzen is an American game designer, artist, voice actor and author known for his work creating the fictional universes and scripts for Blizzard Entertainment's three major award-winning media franchises: Warcraft, Diablo and StarCraft. On occasion, Metzen has published his art...
and James Phinney, who also created the game's fictional universe
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
. Using the Warcraft II game engine as a base, StarCraft made its debut at E3 1996. The game's success led to the development of two authorized add-ons, which were both released in 1998. However, neither of the two add-ons were particularly well received by critics. StarCraft also marked the debut of Blizzard Entertainment's film department. Previously, cinematic cut scenes were seen as simply gap fillers that often deviated from the game, but with StarCraft and later Brood War introducing high quality cinematics integral to the storyline of the series, Blizzard Entertainment is cited as having changed this perception and became one of the first game companies to raise the standard regarding such cut scenes.
StarCrafts success also inspired third-party developer Microstar Software to release an unauthorized add-on, entitled Stellar Forces, in May 1998. Blizzard Entertainment consequently filed a lawsuit against Microstar for selling the add-on, arguing that as the product was unauthorized and created using StarCrafts level editing software
Level editor
A level editor is a software tool used to design levels, maps, campaigns, etc and virtual worlds for a video game. In some cases the creator of a video game releases an official level editor for a game, but other times the community of fans step in to fill the void...
, it was a breach of the end user license agreement
Software license agreement
A software license agreement is a contract between the "licensor" and purchaser of the right to use software. The license may define ways under which the copy can be used, in addition to the automatic rights of the buyer including the first sale doctrine and .Many form contracts are only contained...
.
In November 1998, Blizzard Entertainment won the court case against Microstar Software. In the settlement, Microstar agreed to pay an undisclosed amount in punitive damages and to destroy all remaining copies of Stellar Forces in its possession, as well as to formally apologize to Blizzard Entertainment.
After the release of the first two add-on packs, Blizzard Entertainment announced the official expansion pack to StarCraft, entitled Brood War. Most of the team at Blizzard Entertainment responsible for StarCraft returned to work on Brood War. Development on Brood War began shortly after StarCrafts release, and Blizzard Entertainment were assisted by members of Saffire
Saffire (video game developer)
Saffire was a contract video game developer located in American Fork, Utah. It is noted both for porting games and making some original titles. It was founded by Sculptured Software co-founder, Hal Rushton. They released their last title, Thunderbirds, in 2004 and went out of business sometime...
, who were contracted for a variety of tasks consisting of programming and design for levels, visuals and audio effects.
In 2001, StarCraft: Ghost began development under Nihilistic Software
Nihilistic Software
-History:Nihilistic was founded in March 1998 by Ray Gresko, Robert Huebner, and Steve Tietze. Gresko and Huebner had formerly worked at LucasArts, and Tietze had worked at Rogue Entertainment...
, with the aim of releasing the game for the Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
, PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
and Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
during late 2003. Unlike previous real-time strategy StarCraft titles, Ghost was to be a tactical third-person action game. Although the press was positive about the video game console direction taken by Ghost, the game was consistently delayed, and during the third quarter of 2004, Nihilistic Software discontinued their work with the project. Blizzard stated that Nihilistic Software had completed the tasks it had been contracted for and that the game would be delivered on time. StarCraft II was announced on 19 May 2007, nearly a decade after the original, at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
, South Korea. StarCraft II was being developed, under the codename Medusa, for concurrent release on Windows XP
Windows XP
Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
, Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
and Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
. Blizzard announced a release date for the 27th of July, 2010. Development on the game began in 2003, shortly after Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne is a real-time strategy computer game developed for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS and Mac OS X by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the official expansion pack to Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, requiring Reign of Chaos to play...
was released.
Novelizations
Novelization
A novelization is a novel that is written based on some other media story form rather than as an original work.Novelizations of films usually add background material not found in the original work to flesh out the story, because novels are generally longer than screenplays...
s, with at least two more in the works, all published by Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
. At BlizzCon
BlizzCon
"BlizzCon" is an annual convention held by Blizzard Entertainment to celebrate their major franchises: Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo...
2007, Chris Metzen
Chris Metzen
Christopher Vincent Metzen is an American game designer, artist, voice actor and author known for his work creating the fictional universes and scripts for Blizzard Entertainment's three major award-winning media franchises: Warcraft, Diablo and StarCraft. On occasion, Metzen has published his art...
stated that he hoped to novelize the entirety of StarCraft and Brood War into a definitive text-based story. The first novel, StarCraft: Uprising, was written by Micky Neilson, a Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher founded on February 8, 1991 under the name Silicon & Synapse by three graduates of UCLA, Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce and currently owned by French company Activision Blizzard...
employee, and originally released only as an e-book
E-book
An electronic book is a book-length publication in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, and produced on, published through, and readable on computers or other electronic devices. Sometimes the equivalent of a conventional printed book, e-books can also be born digital...
in December 2000. The novel follows the origins of the character Sarah Kerrigan
Sarah Kerrigan
Sarah Louise Kerrigan, the self-styled Queen of Blades, is a major character and the predominant villain in Blizzard Entertainment's StarCraft series of video games and novels. The character was created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney, and her appearance was originally designed by Chris Metzen...
. The second novel, entitled StarCraft: Liberty's Crusade, serves as an adaptation of the first campaign of StarCraft, following on a journalist following a number of the key Terran characters in the series. Written by Jeff Grubb
Jeff Grubb
Jeff Grubb is an author and game designer. He has worked on a number of computer and role-playing games and has written a number of successful novels, short stories and comics...
and published in March 2001, it was the first StarCraft novel to be released in paperback
Paperback
Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
. StarCraft: Shadow of the Xel'Naga, published in July 2001 is the third novel, written by Kevin Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson is an American science fiction author with over forty bestsellers. He has written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and with Brian Herbert is the co-author of the Dune prequels...
under the pseudonym Gabriel Mesta. It serves as a link between StarCraft and Brood War. The fantasy author Tracy Hickman
Tracy Hickman
Tracy Raye Hickman is a best-selling fantasy author, best known for his work on Dragonlance as a game designer and co-author with Margaret Weis, while he worked for TSR...
was brought in to write the fourth novel, StarCraft: Speed of Darkness, which was published in June 2002. Speed of Darkness is written from the viewpoint of a Confederate marine
Space marine
The space marine, an archetype of science fiction, is a soldier that operates in outer space or on alien worlds. Historical marines fulfill amphibious roles: ship defence, landing parties, and general high-mobility deployments...
during the early stages of StarCraft. The first four novels, including the e-book Uprising, were later re-released as a single anthology entitled The StarCraft Archive in November 2007.
A fifth novel entitled StarCraft: Queen of Blades was published in June 2006. Written by Aaron S. Rosenberg
Aaron S. Rosenberg
Aaron S. Rosenberg is an American novelist and game designer.-Biography:Originally from New Jersey and New York, Aaron Rosenberg returned to New York City in 1996 after stints in New Orleans and Kansas...
, it is a novelization of the second campaign in StarCraft from the perspective of Jim Raynor
Jim Raynor
James Eugene "Jim" Raynor is a fictional character and a major protagonist in Blizzard Entertainment's science fiction StarCraft series. Raynor is a predominant character in the science fiction real-time strategy video games StarCraft and Brood War, and is the player character in StarCraft II:...
. This was followed in November 2006 by StarCraft Ghost: Nova, a book focusing on the early origins of the character of Nova from the postponed StarCraft: Ghost
StarCraft: Ghost
StarCraft: Ghost is a military science fiction stealth-action video game under suspended development by Blizzard Entertainment. Part of Blizzard's StarCraft series, the game was announced in 2002 and was to be developed by Nihilistic Software for the Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, and PlayStation 2 video...
game. Written by Keith R.A. DeCandido, the novel was meant to accompany the release of StarCraft: Ghost, but was continued despite the postponement of the game. In 2007 Christie Golden
Christie Golden
Christie Golden is an award-winning author who lives in Loveland, Colorado, United States. She has written over thirty novels and several short stories in fantasy, horror and science fiction.-Career:...
, an author whose previous work included novels in Blizzard's Warcraft series
Warcraft (series)
Warcraft is a franchise of video games, novels, and other media originally created by Blizzard Entertainment. The series is made up of Four core games: Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, and World of Warcraft...
, was brought in to write a trilogy entitled the StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga. The trilogy acts as a link between StarCraft and its sequel StarCraft II. The first installment, Firstborn being published in May 2007 and Shadow Hunters, the second novel, being published in November 2007. The final part of the trilogy, Twilight was released in June 2009. Two more upcoming novels have been announced: I, Mengsk by Graham McNeill
Graham McNeill
Graham McNeill is a British novelist. He is best known for his Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 novels, and his previous role as games designer for Games Workshop.-Biography:...
and Spectres, which will be a sequel to DeCandido's Nova.
In addition to these, Blizzard Entertainment authorized two short stories in Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...
magazine, entitled StarCraft: Revelations and StarCraft: Hybrid. Revelations was authored by series creator Chris Metzen
Chris Metzen
Christopher Vincent Metzen is an American game designer, artist, voice actor and author known for his work creating the fictional universes and scripts for Blizzard Entertainment's three major award-winning media franchises: Warcraft, Diablo and StarCraft. On occasion, Metzen has published his art...
and Sam Moore, a Blizzard employee, and was featured on the cover of the 1999 spring edition with art by Blizzard's art director Samwise Didier
Samwise Didier
Sam "Samwise" Didier is the art director at Blizzard Entertainment. He is responsible for creating much of the artwork for computer games in the Warcraft, StarCraft, and the Diablo series. He is the senior art director on StarCraft II...
. Hybrid was written by Micky Neilson and again was accompanied by artwork by Didier; the short story was published in the spring edition of 2000. At New York Comic-Con in 2008, TokyoPop
Tokyopop
Tokyopop, styled TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa, and Western manga-style works. The existing German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well...
announced that they would be producing a number of StarCraft graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
s. Two series were announced: StarCraft: Frontline, which will be a series of short story anthologies, and Ghost Academy, which will be written by Keith R.A. DeCandido and follow several characters, such as Nova, during their training as the psychic assassins called "ghosts". A further graphic novel set for a 2009 release, produced by Wildstorm
Wildstorm
WildStorm Productions, or simply WildStorm, published American comic books. Originally an independent company established by Jim Lee and further expanded upon in subsequent years by other creators, WildStorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1999...
and DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, was revealed in October 2008.
Merchandise
A number of action figures and collectable statues based upon the characters and units in StarCraft have been produced by ToyCom. A number of model kits, made by Academy Hobby Model KitsAcademy Plastic Model Co.
Academy Plastic Model Co., Ltd. is a Korean plastic model, chemical, and toy company. It is headquartered in Uijeongbu-Si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea and was established on September 1, 1969. It holds three headquarters in Seoul, Korea; Gelsenkirchen, Germany; and Rosario, Cavite, Philippines...
, were also produced, displaying 1/30 scale versions of the marine
Space marine
The space marine, an archetype of science fiction, is a soldier that operates in outer space or on alien worlds. Historical marines fulfill amphibious roles: ship defence, landing parties, and general high-mobility deployments...
and the hydralisk. In addition, Blizzard Entertainment teamed up with Fantasy Flight Games
Fantasy Flight Games
Fantasy Flight Games is a Roseville, Minnesota-based game company that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games. Fantasy Flight Publishing was founded in 1995 by its CEO, Christian T. Petersen. Since the release of its first game product in 1997, the company has been doing...
to create a board game based in the StarCraft universe. Blizzard Entertainment also licensed Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...
to produce an Alternity
Alternity
Alternity is a science fiction role-playing game published by TSR in 1998...
based game entitled StarCraft Adventures
StarCraft Adventures
StarCraft Adventures is an Alternity game system table-top role-playing game set in Blizzard Entertainment's popular StarCraft universe. It uses a simplified "fast play" rules rather than the full Alternity rule set....
.
Reception and cultural impact
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
. Since the initial release of StarCraft, Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher founded on February 8, 1991 under the name Silicon & Synapse by three graduates of UCLA, Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce and currently owned by French company Activision Blizzard...
reported that its Battle.net
Battle.net
Battle.net is a gaming service provided by Blizzard Entertainment. Battle.net was launched in November 30, 1996 with the release of Blizzard's action-RPG Diablo. Battle.net was the first online gaming service incorporated directly into the games that make use of it, in contrast to the external...
online multiplayer service grew by 800 percent. StarCraft remains one of the most popular online games in the world. After its release, StarCraft rapidly grew in popularity in South Korea, establishing a successful pro-gaming scene
StarCraft professional competition
The computer game StarCraft has an active professional competition circuit, particularly in South Korea. The two major game channels in South Korea, Ongamenet and MBCGame, each run a Starleague , viewed by millions of fans...
. Pro-gamers in South Korea are niche media celebrities and StarCraft games broadcast over three television channels dedicated to gaming. StarCraft has won numerous Game of the Year
Game of the Year
Game of the Year is a title awarded by various magazines, websites, and shows to a deserving game. Many are only for PC or console video games...
awards, is often described as one of the best real-time strategy games made, and is widely credited with popularizing the use of distinct and unique sides—as opposed to sides of equal ability and strength—in real-time strategy games.
Although Insurrection and Retribution were not particularly well received, StarCraft: Brood War generally received very positive reviews, with an aggregate Game Rankings
Game Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
score of 96%. The magazine PC Zone
PC Zone
PC Zone was the first magazine dedicated to games for IBM-compatible personal computers to be published in the United Kingdom. Earlier PC magazines such as PC Leisure, PC Format and PC Plus had covered games but only as part of a wider remit. PC Zone was founded in 1993.The magazine was published...
gave Brood War a short but flattering review, describing it as having "definitely been worth the wait" and also drew note to the cinematic cut scenes, stating that they "actually feel like part of the story rather than an afterthought." IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
stated that Brood Wars enhancements were "enough to enrich the core gameplay without losing the flavor" while GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
noted that the expansion was developed with the same level of care as the full game.
The release of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty resulted very well, it has sold 1.8 million copies within the first forty eight hours of release which breaks the record of best selling strategy game in the history of the gaming industry and has received very positive reviews with an aggregate Game Rankings
Game Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
score of 92% and has been nominated as the "Best PC Game of 2010" on Gamespot. As time came from release, Korea already hosted a number of tournaments, for example, the GOMTV Global Starcraft II League
GOMTV Global Starcraft II League
GOMTV Global Starcraft II League is a StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty tournament hosted by GomTV and Blizzard Entertainment in South Korea. There is an English stream available for non-Korean viewers. The tournament features two leagues, Code S and Code A...
(GSL).
External links
- Quotations related to StarCraft at Wikiquote
WikiquoteWikiquote is one of a family of wiki-based projects run by the Wikimedia Foundation, running on MediaWiki software. Based on an idea by Daniel Alston and implemented by Brion Vibber, the goal of the project is to produce collaboratively a vast reference of quotations from prominent people, books,... - Official StarCraft I website
- StarCraft official facebook page
- StarCraft official twitter
- StarCraft official YouTube channel
- Official StarCraft II website
- Sons of the Storm, the official site of a number of Blizzard Entertainment concept artists.
- Official StarCraft: Frontline Manga Website from TOKYOPOP
- Official StarCraft: Ghost Academy Manga Website from TOKYOPOP