StarCraft (1998)
StarCraft is a 1998 real time strategy (rts) video game made by Blizzard Entertainment.
Three species fight over a distant corner of the galaxy: the adaptable human Terrans, the swarming Zerg, and the ancient, high-technology Protoss. StarCraft is a real-time strategy game where you gather resources, build a base and army, and send them against opponents who play by entirely different rules. Each faction has its own units, economy, and feel, and the campaigns move between all three as a larger conflict unfolds. Its careful balance turned it into a competitive staple for years, especially in the professional scene, where matches became a spectator sport of their own.
Quick answers
What is StarCraft about?
Three species fight over a distant corner of the galaxy: the adaptable human Terrans, the swarming Zerg, and the ancient, high-technology Protoss. StarCraft is a real-time strategy game where you gather resources, build a base and army, and send them against opponents who play by entirely different rules. Each faction has its own units, economy, and feel, and the campaigns move between all three as a larger conflict unfolds. Its careful balance turned it into a competitive staple for years, especially in the professional scene, where matches became a spectator sport of their own.
When was StarCraft released?
StarCraft was released on 31 March 1998.
Who made StarCraft?
StarCraft was made by Blizzard Entertainment.
Similar games
Explore StarCraft guides
StarCraft in our writing
- Companion guide: Blizzard Entertainment: StarCraft, Diablo, Warcraft and the Art of Polish
- Companion guide: Military Sci-Fi
A few thoughts on StarCraft
To follow the war past the missions, StarCraft: Liberty's Crusade retells the Terran campaign through a reporter chasing the truth, and Starcraft II - devils' due fills in Jim Raynor and Tychus before their partnership frays. Both are for players who want the lore in prose, not just mission briefings.
The StarCraft novels and its expanded lore
StarCraft's Terran, Zerg, and Protoss war reaches well past the campaigns, and these novels are where it keeps unfolding. They follow the conflict's soldiers, dark templar, and hidden agendas into stories the games only gesture at. The obvious next step when you want more of the universe than a mission briefing gives you.
Sci-fi wars between humans and alien species
StarCraft pits adaptable humans against the swarming Zerg and the ancient Protoss, three species that fight by different rules. These games chase that same clash of humanity and the alien, through galactic wars, invasions, and uneasy alliances. If the three-way species conflict is the hook, they carry the war into other corners of space.
Genre-defining games worth going back to
StarCraft set a bar its whole genre chased for years, the kind of release that reshapes what players expect. These are landmark games in their own lanes, each one a touchstone others still borrow from. A shelf of essentials for anyone who values the games that moved things forward.
