StarCraft is a science fiction media franchise made up of real-time strategy video games developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. The series has several games which carry the main story arc: StarCraft, its expansion pack StarCraft: Brood War, and the trilogy StarCraft II. In addition, the series incorporates media that include spin-off video games, tabletop games, novelizations, graphic novels, and other literature. A variety of toys have also been produced. Set in the 26th century, the series revolves around three species fighting for dominance in a distant part of the Milky Way galaxy: the Terrans, humans exiled from Earth who are adept at conforming to any situation; the Zerg, a race of insectoids obsessed with the pursuit of genetic perfection through the assimilation of other races; and the Protoss, a humanoid species with advanced technology and psionic abilities attempting to preserve from the Zerg both their civilization and strict philosophical way of living.

Conceived by Chris Metzen and James Phinney, the StarCraft series has been a commercial and critical success. The first game, StarCraft, is regarded as being highly influential in the real-time strategy genre. Combined with its official expansion, Brood War, over 10 million copies of StarCraft have been sold globally. StarCraft remains one of the most popular online games in the world; Blizzard Entertainment reported an 800 percent increase in Battle.net service usage after the game's release in 1998. The original StarCraft and its expansion are particularly popular in South Korea, where a successful eSports scene has been established.

Games

Video games

Game	Release date
	North America	PAL region
StarCraft	31 March 1998	31 March 1998
Developed by Blizzard Entertainment, and released for Microsoft Windows Set real-time strategy standards and established a successful electronic sports scene; particularly popular in South Korea Ported to Mac OS in March 1999
StarCraft: Insurrection	31 July 1998	31 July 1998
Authorized add-on for StarCraft, developed by Aztech New Media Side story based around a minor planet in the series' backstory
StarCraft: Retribution	Late 1998	Late 1998
Authorized add-on for StarCraft, developed by Stardock and published by WizardWorks Side story set around the retrieval of a powerful and ancient artifact
StarCraft: Brood War	30 November 1998	March 1999
Official expansion pack to StarCraft, developed by Blizzard Entertainment and Saffire and released for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS Game events continue from directly after the original game Enhanced the gameplay balance of StarCraft; is used as the base for electronic sports with StarCraft
StarCraft 64	13 June 2000	16 June 2000
Nintendo 64 version of StarCraft and Brood War, ported by Mass Media Interactive Entertainment Includes additional secret mission expanding on the character of Alexei Stukov
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty	July 27, 2010	July 27, 2010
Developed by Blizzard Entertainment for Windows and Mac OS X Continues story from four years after Brood War Intended as a first part of trilogy, and the title will be focusing on the story of Terrans
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm	March 12, 2013	March 12, 2013
Developed by Blizzard Entertainment for Windows and Mac OS X Intended as a second part of trilogy, and will be the title focusing on the story of Zerg
StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void	November 10, 2015	November 10, 2015
Being developed by Blizzard Entertainment for Windows and Mac OS X Intended as a third part of trilogy, and will be the title focusing on the story of Protoss
StarCraft: Ghost	Cancelled	Cancelled
Stealth-action game developed by Blizzard Entertainment, previously by Nihilistic Software and Swingin' Ape Studios Spin-off console title focusing on new character of Nova Noted for lengthy development, considered vaporware; development on the game was cancelled

Other games

Game	Release date	Media type
StarCraft Adventures	July 2000	Role-playing game
Tabletop game based on the Alternity game system
StarCraft: The Board Game	October 2007	Board game
Tabletop game for two to six players, produced by Fantasy Flight Games Winner of "Best Board Game" at the 2008 Origins Game Fair

Soundtracks

Title		Release date	Length	Label
StarCraft: Game Music Vol. 1		January 2000	56:49	Net Vision Entertainment
Composed predominantly of tracks inspired by StarCraft and produced by South Korean DJs; a small number of original game tracks composed by Glenn Stafford, Derek Duke, Jason Hayes and Tracy W. Bush were included Discontinued, previously sold through Blizzard Entertainment's online store
StarCraft Original Soundtrack		10 August 2008	63:34	Azeroth Music
Comprises tracks composed by Glen Stafford, Derek Duke, Jason Hayes and Tracy W. Bush for in-game themes and cut scenes Released online through iTunes

Printed media

Title	Release date	ISBN	Media type
StarCraft: Revelations	29 March 1999	—	Short story
Written by Chris Metzen and Sam Moore; published in Amazing Stories magazine Accompanying artwork art by Samwise Didier featured on the cover of Amazing Stories
StarCraft: Hybrid	Second quarter of 2000	—	Short story
Written by Micky Neilson and published in Amazing Stories magazine Accompanied by artwork by Samwise Didier
StarCraft: Uprising	18 December 2000	ISBN 978-0-7434-1898-0	Novelization
Written by Micky Neilson and published by Simon & Schuster, originally only available as an e-book Prequel to StarCraft, focusing on the origins of Sarah Kerrigan
StarCraft: Liberty's Crusade	1 March 2001	ISBN 978-0-671-04148-9	Novelization
Written by Jeff Grubb and published by Simon & Schuster Adaptation of the first campaign in StarCraft
StarCraft: Shadow of the Xel'Naga	1 July 2001	ISBN 978-0-671-04149-6	Novelization
Written by Gabriel Mesta and published by Simon & Schuster Set between StarCraft and Brood War, focusing on the discovery of Xel'Naga artifacts
StarCraft: Speed of Darkness	1 June 2002	ISBN 978-0-671-04150-2	Novelization
Written by Tracy Hickman and published by Simon & Schuster Side story set in the first campaign in StarCraft, focusing on the lives of individual Confederate marines
StarCraft: Queen of Blades	1 June 2006	ISBN 978-0-7434-7133-6	Novelization
Written by Aaron S. Rosenberg and published by Simon & Schuster Adaptation of the second campaign in StarCraft
StarCraft Ghost: Nova	28 November 2006	ISBN 978-0-7434-7134-3	Novelization
Written by Keith R.A. DeCandido and published by Simon & Schuster Set during the first campaign in StarCraft, focuses on the origins of Nova
StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga #1: Firstborn	22 May 2007	ISBN 978-0-7434-7125-1	Novelization
Written by Christie Golden and published by Simon & Schuster Prequel to StarCraft II, focusing on excavation of Xel'Naga artifacts and Protoss history
The StarCraft Archive	13 November 2007	ISBN 978-1-4165-4929-1	Anthology
Collection of early StarCraft novels, published by Simon & Schuster Consists of Uprising, Liberty's Crusade, Shadow of the Xel'Naga and Speed of Darkness
StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga #2: Shadow Hunters	27 November 2007	ISBN 978-1-4165-8003-4	Novelization
Written by Christie Golden and published by Simon & Schuster Prequel to StarCraft II, continuation of storyline begun in Firstborn
StarCraft: Frontline	August 2008	ISBN 978-1-4278-0721-2	Graphic novel
Written by Richard A. Knaak and published by Tokyopop An anthology of short stories set before StarCraft II exploring the viewpoints of the three main species
StarCraft: I, Mengsk	30 December 2008	ISBN 978-1-4165-5083-9	Novelization
Written by Graham McNeill and published by Simon & Schuster Focuses on the origins of characters in the Mengsk family: Angus Mengsk, Arcturus Mengsk and Valerian Mengsk
StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga #3: Twilight	30 June 2009	ISBN 978-0-7434-7129-9	Novelization
Written by Christie Golden and published by Simon & Schuster Prequel to StarCraft II, concludes the story arc of The Dark Templar Saga
StarCraft: Ghost Academy	1 February 2010	ISBN 978-1-4278-1612-2	Graphic novel
Written by Keith R.A. DeCandido with art by Fernando Heinz Furukawa and published by Tokyopop David Gerrold authored Spanish version Focuses on the training of Nova as an espionage agent Two sequential volumes published in February 2010 and March 2011
StarCraft Ghost: Spectres	27 September 2011	ASIN B01K1585DC	Novelization
Written by Nate Kenyon and published by the Pocket Books division of Simon & Schuster Sequel to StarCraft Ghost: Nova
StarCraft: Evolution	8 November 2016	ISBN 978-0425284735	Novelization
Written by Timothy Zahn Published by Del Rey Audiobook narrated by Christopher Ryan Grant and published by Random House Audio
Heaven's Devil's (Starcraft II #1)	6 April 2010	ISBN 9781416550846	Novelization
Written by William C. Dietz Published by Gallery Books Audiobook
Devil's Due (Starcraft II #2)	12 April 2011	ISBN 9781416550853	Novelization
Written by Christie Golden Published by Gallery Audiobook
Flashpoint (Starcraft II #3)	6 November 2012	ISBN 978-0425284735	Novelization
Written by Christie Golden Published by Simon & Schuster Audiobook

Other media

Title	Release date	Media type
StarCraft Battle Chest	31 December 1999	Video game compilation
Compilation of StarCraft and Brood War for Windows and Mac OS, along with the official strategy guides by Prima Games for the two games
StarCraft Cinematics DVD	First quarter of 2001	Cinematic cut scene collection
Collector's DVD containing high quality versions of the cut scenes used in StarCraft and Brood War, along with audio commentary and concept art
Heroes of the Storm	2 June 2015	Video game
Developed by Blizzard Entertainment for Windows and Mac OS X The game features over 15 characters from the StarCraft universe as playable heroes, as well as two Starcraft-themed battlegrounds: Braxis Holdout and Warhead Junction.