Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness is a real-time strategy game developed by Blizzard Entertainment and released for MS-DOS in North America in December 1995, with Europe following in January 1996. Development began in February 1995, only a few months after Warcraft: Orcs & Humans. The team first experimented with mixing modern and fantasy elements before settling on pure fantasy.
The game was a major success: over 1.2 million copies were sold by November 1996, and in the US alone 835,680 copies earned $34.5 million in 1996. The Beyond the Dark Portal expansion arrived in 1996, and in 1999 the Battle.net Edition merged both into a Windows program with online play.
Blizzard sold the exclusive console rights to Electronic Arts, which released Warcraft II: The Dark Saga on PlayStation and Sega Saturn in 1997. In November 2024 Blizzard released Warcraft II: Remastered together with a remaster of Warcraft: Orcs & Humans.1
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | Warcraft II: Tides of DarknessWikipedia gives 5 December 1995, PCGamingWiki 9 December 1995. | MS-DOS | December 1995 | Davidson & Associates | 1 |
| NA | Warcraft BattlechestBundle of the original game and the Beyond the Dark Portal expansion. | MS-DOS | Nov 11, 1996 | — | 1 |
| NA | Warcraft II: Tides of DarknessWikipedia's infobox lists December 1995 but its text says the Mac port came out in August 1996; PCGamingWiki lists 9 December 1995. | Mac | 1996 | — | 1 |
| NA | Warcraft II: The Dark SagaAlso on Sega Saturn. | PlayStation | Aug 20, 1997 | Electronic Arts | 1 |
| AU | Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness | MS-DOS | December 1995 | — | 1 |
| EU | Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness | MS-DOS | January 1996 | Zablac Entertainment | 1 |
| EU | Warcraft II: The Dark SagaConsole port by Climax; also on Sega Saturn. | PlayStation | July 1997 | Electronic Arts | 1 |
| WW | Warcraft II: Battle.net EditionWindows and Mac; includes the expansion and replaces the DOS version. | Windows | 1999 | Blizzard Entertainment | 1 |
| WW | Warcraft II: RemasteredRemaster released together with Warcraft: Orcs & Humans. | Windows | November 2024 | Blizzard Entertainment | 1 |
Also known as: Warcraft II: The Dark Saga WW1Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition WW1
Box art by region
NA Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: Wikipedia.
Version differences
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GameplayBattle.net Edition
The 1999 Battle.net Edition combines the base game and the Beyond the Dark Portal expansion into a single Windows program with Battle.net support, replacing the DOS version.1
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ContentBeyond the Dark Portal
The 1996 expansion Beyond the Dark Portal was first contracted to Cyberlore Studios, but Blizzard cancelled the contract and finished it in-house.1
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GameplayDOS original
The original release supported only LAN play over IPX, not internet play over TCP/IP; Blizzard later released a tool for playing over Kali. On Windows Vista and later, IPX multiplayer does not work without tunneling.2
How to run it today
The original DOS release cannot play multiplayer on Windows Vista and later because it relies on IPX, and 64-bit and macOS systems need a source port. The Battle.net Edition is the later Windows version of the game. Wargus is a community mod that runs Warcraft II on the open-source Stratagus engine for Windows, Linux and macOS; it needs game data extracted from your own Warcraft II installer.
- Wargus on GitHub github.com
- Warcraft II on PCGamingWiki pcgamingwiki.com
Reception
Warcraft II sold 500,000 units in three months, over 2.5 million by the end of 1998 and over 3 million by 2001. It holds 95% on GameRankings, and PC Gamer US named it the best game of 1995.1
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
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