List of StarCraft media

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,[1] tabletop games,[2] novelizations, graphic novels, and other literature.[3] A variety of toys have also been produced.[4] 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.[5]

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.[6] Combined with its official expansion, Brood War, over 10 million copies of StarCraft have been sold globally.[7] StarCraft remains one of the most popular online games in the world;[8] Blizzard Entertainment reported an 800 percent increase in Battle.net service usage after the game's release in 1998.[9] The original StarCraft and its expansion are particularly popular in South Korea, where a successful eSports scene has been established.[10]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference battlenet faq was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Revelations was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Blizzard tackles toys". IGN. 1998-11-22. Retrieved 2008-11-02.
  5. ^ "The Story So Far: Part 1: StarCraft". Blizzard Entertainment. 2007-11-21. Archived from the original on 2007-11-23. Retrieved 2007-11-22.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference GspotAward was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Olsen, Kelly (2007-05-21). "South Korean gamers get a sneak peek at 'StarCraft II'". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference fans was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Blizzard's Battle.net Remains Largest Online Game Service in the World; Battle.net Dominates Online Gaming Industry With 2.1 Million Active Users; Korea Becomes World's No. 1 Market". Business Wire. CBS Interactive. 1999-02-04. Archived from the original on 2008-01-15. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
  10. ^ Ki-tae, Kim (2005-03-20). "Will StarCraft Survive Next 10 Years?". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved 2008-08-26.