StarCraft is a real-time strategy game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment, released for Windows in North America on 31 March 1998. Development began in 1995 on the Warcraft II engine, but after critics at E3 1996 dismissed it as "Warcraft in space," the project was overhauled around three distinct races. Programmer Bob Fitch rebuilt the engine in about two months so units could burrow and cloak.
The Brood War expansion followed in December 1998, a Mac version in 1999, and StarCraft 64, co-developed with Mass Media and published by Nintendo, in 2000. By May 2007 the game had sold 9.5 million copies, 4.5 million of them in South Korea, where competitive play took off: a 2005 SKY proleague final in Busan drew about 120,000 fans, which Guinness recognized as the largest audience for a game competition.
In April 2017 Blizzard made StarCraft and Brood War free, ahead of StarCraft: Remastered on 14 August 2017.12
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | StarCraft | Windows | Mar 31, 1998 | Blizzard Entertainment | 1 |
| NA | StarCraft: Brood WarExpansion (Windows and Mac); Europe March 1999. | Windows | Dec 18, 1998 | Blizzard Entertainment | 1 |
| NA | StarCraft | Mac | Mar 12, 1999 | Blizzard Entertainment | 1 |
| NA | StarCraft 64Co-developed with Mass Media. | Nintendo 64 | Jun 13, 2000 | Nintendo | 1 |
| EU | StarCraftUK date. | Windows | Apr 9, 1998 | Blizzard Entertainment | 1 |
| AU | StarCraft 64 | Nintendo 64 | May 25, 2001 | Nintendo | 1 |
| WW | StarCraft AnthologyOriginal game and Brood War made freeware (version 1.18). | Windows | Apr 18, 2017 | Blizzard Entertainment | 2 |
| WW | StarCraft: RemasteredWindows and macOS; available two weeks earlier in South Korean PC bangs. | Windows | Aug 14, 2017 | Blizzard Entertainment | 3 |
Also known as: StarCraft 64 WW1StarCraft: Remastered WW3StarCraft Anthology WW2StarCraft Battle Chest WW2
Box art by region
NA StarCraft
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: Wikipedia.
Version differences
-
GraphicsNintendo 64
StarCraft 64 on the Nintendo 64 was criticized for weaker graphics than the PC original.1
-
GraphicsRemastered
StarCraft: Remastered keeps the original gameplay and engine but adds graphics up to 4K, re-recorded music and sound, and a switch between the old and new visuals.3
-
AudioJapanese original
The original Japanese release has its own voice recordings, and its dialogue differs from the Japanese text in Remastered.2
Translations
-
Japanese Official
—WindowsReleased
The original official Japanese release has its own audio and dialogue, which differ from Remastered.2
-
Portuguese (Brazil) Official
TecToyWindowsReleased
An official Brazilian Portuguese version from TecToy, sold at retail and digitally; a separate, fully dubbed fan translation by TSF also exists.2
-
zh-Hans Fan
—Windows · version 1.17Released
Fan-made Simplified and Traditional Chinese localizations that support version 1.17.2
Where to play legally today
-
Battle.net Free
StarCraft: Remastered
StarCraft + Brood War (free-to-play base; Remastered upgrade sold separately)
Checked: 2026-10-134starcraft.blizzard.com
How to run it today
Install StarCraft for free through Battle.net: since April 2017 the original game and Brood War are freeware, and the current version includes the fixes for graphics corruption on Windows Vista/7 (patch 1.17) and missing sound on Windows 10 (patch 1.18). StarCraft: Remastered adds 4K graphics and ranked play as a paid upgrade. Older community tools such as ChaosLauncher and the Resolution Expander do not work with the current version.
- StarCraft on PCGamingWiki pcgamingwiki.com
Best version
StarCraft: Remastered plays exactly like the original, with optional 4K graphics and re-recorded audio. The original game plus Brood War is free on Battle.net.3
Reception
StarCraft was the best-selling PC game of 1998 with over 1.5 million copies and passed 11 million by February 2009, a large share of them in South Korea. It holds 88/100 on Metacritic (PC/Mac) and won Computer Entertainment Title of the Year at the first Interactive Achievement Awards.1
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
Spotted a mistake? Write to atlas@old-games.net.