StarCraft 10th Anniversary Interview
March 31, 2008 - Tuesday marks the 10th anniversary of a landmark event in PC gaming. On April 1, 1998, Blizzard unleashed its sci-fi real-time strategy game StarCraft upon the world. While the developers knew they had made a great game, no one foresaw what would happen next. As of May of last year, Blizzard had sold 9.5 million copies of the game, which makes appearances on Top 10 sales lists even today. In South Korea, where it's sold almost five million copies alone, StarCraft is practically a national obsession with professional leagues and sponsorships.
Now Blizzard is busy working on the long-awaited sequel to StarCraft, but we were able to talk with several employees who were veterans of the original game for their thoughts on this historic milestone. We chatted with Chris Sigaty, lead tester; Sam Didier, art director; and Frank Pearce, a Blizzard cofounder and now executive vice president of product development. Bob Colayco of Blizzard PR also sat in.
In case you're totally unfamiliar, StarCraft follows the story of three diverse races: the Terrans (humans), ravenous Zerg, and mystical Protoss. Throughout the game's rather sizable single-player campaign, players learn about each race's diverse cultures and motivations and become acquainted with their drastically different play styles. Such a difference between race mechanics is in large part what made StarCraft such a standout game and so enjoyable to play. To say, "I play Zerg" or "I play Terran" carries different, more distinct connotations of general play style and personality than saying something like "I play Nod" or "I play GDI."
Now Blizzard is busy working on the long-awaited sequel to StarCraft, but we were able to talk with several employees who were veterans of the original game for their thoughts on this historic milestone. We chatted with Chris Sigaty, lead tester; Sam Didier, art director; and Frank Pearce, a Blizzard cofounder and now executive vice president of product development. Bob Colayco of Blizzard PR also sat in.
In case you're totally unfamiliar, StarCraft follows the story of three diverse races: the Terrans (humans), ravenous Zerg, and mystical Protoss. Throughout the game's rather sizable single-player campaign, players learn about each race's diverse cultures and motivations and become acquainted with their drastically different play styles. Such a difference between race mechanics is in large part what made StarCraft such a standout game and so enjoyable to play. To say, "I play Zerg" or "I play Terran" carries different, more distinct connotations of general play style and personality than saying something like "I play Nod" or "I play GDI."
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