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]