Editing StarCraft (video game) (section)

===Legacy===
{{see also|StarCraft: Brood War professional competition}}

GameSpot described ''StarCraft'' as "The defining game of its genre. It is the standard by which all real-time strategy games are judged."<ref name="GspotAward"/> ''[[IGN]]'' stated that ''StarCraft'' "is hands down one of the best, if not the best, real-time strategy games ever created."<ref name="popular"/> ''StarCraft'' is frequently included in the industry's best games rankings, for example it ranked 37 in [[Edge (magazine)|''Edge''{{'}}s]] top 100 games of all time.<ref name="Edge">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.next-gen.biz/features/edges-top-100-games-all-time|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080202064950/http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6231&Itemid=2&limit=1&limitstart=6|archive-date=February 2, 2008|title=Top 100 Games|magazine=[[Edge (magazine)|Edge]]|date= July 2, 2007| access-date = May 21, 2008}}</ref> ''StarCraft'' has even been taken into space, as astronaut [[Daniel T. Barry]] took a copy of the game with him on the [[Space Shuttle program|Space Shuttle]] mission [[STS-96]] in 1999.<ref name="SCSpace">{{cite web|url=http://blizzard.com/us/starcraft/sis/|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080313091642/http://www.blizzard.com/us/starcraft/sis/|archive-date= March 13, 2008| title = ''StarCraft'' in Space | publisher=[[Blizzard Entertainment]]|access-date=April 23, 2008}}</ref> ''StarCraft''{{'}}s popularity resulted in ''[[Guinness World Records]]'' awarding the game four world records, including "Best Selling PC Strategy Game," "Largest Income in Professional Gaming," and "Largest Audience for a Game Competition" when 120,000 fans turned out to watch the final of the SKY proleague season 2005 in [[Busan, South Korea]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition|publisher=Hit Entertainment|year=2008|isbn=978-1-904994-20-6|title-link=Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition}}</ref> Researchers have shown that the audience for watching ''StarCraft'' games is diverse and that ''StarCraft'' uses instances of [[information asymmetry]] to make the game more entertaining for spectators.<ref name="Spectator">{{cite web|url=http://jeffhuang.com/Final_StarcraftSpectator_CHI11.pdf |title=Starcraft from the Stands: Understanding the Game Spectator |publisher=[[Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems|ACM CHI]] |access-date=January 30, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110428081007/http://jeffhuang.com/Final_StarcraftSpectator_CHI11.pdf |archive-date=April 28, 2011 }}</ref> In addition, ''StarCraft'' has been the subject of an academic course; the [[University of California, Berkeley]] offered a student-run introductory course on theory and strategy in spring 2009.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2009/01/uc-berkeley-int/ |title=U.C. Berkeley Now Offers ''StarCraft'' Class |magazine=[[Wired News]] |first=Earnest |last=Cavalli |date=January 29, 2009 |access-date=February 16, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305115449/http://www.wired.com/2009/01/uc-berkeley-int/ |archive-date=March 5, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://kotaku.com/5141355/competitive-starcraft-gets-uc-berkeley-class |title=Competitive ''StarCraft'' Gets UC Berkeley Class |publisher=Kotaku |first=Brian |last=Crecente |date=January 28, 2009 |access-date=March 25, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090308091100/http://kotaku.com/5141355/competitive-starcraft-gets-uc-berkeley-class |archive-date=March 8, 2009 }}</ref>

After its release, ''StarCraft'' rapidly grew in popularity in [[South Korea]].<ref>{{cite news | author = Ki-tae, Kim| title = Will ''StarCraft'' Survive Next 10 Years?| newspaper=The Korea Times |date = March 20, 2005| url = https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/news_view.asp?newsIdx=2582126 |archive-date=September 27, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927191427/https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/news_view.asp?newsIdx=2582126}}</ref> Professional gamers in South Korea are media celebrities, and ''StarCraft'' games are broadcast over three television channels dedicated to the professional gaming scene.<ref name="lim">{{cite magazine|author=Evers, Marco |title=The boys with the flying fingers: South Korea Turns PC Gaming into a Spectator Sport |magazine=Der Spiegel |date=February 6, 2006 |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/the-boys-with-the-flying-fingers-south-korea-turns-pc-gaming-into-a-spectator-sport-a-399476.html |access-date=February 16, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160302221920/http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/the-boys-with-the-flying-fingers-south-korea-turns-pc-gaming-into-a-spectator-sport-a-399476.html |archive-date=March 2, 2016 }}</ref> Professional gamers in South Korea have gained television contracts, sponsorships, and tournament prizes, allowing one of the most famous players, [[Lim "BoxeR" Yo-hwan]],<ref>{{cite web|author=Totilo, Stephen |title=Playa Rater: The 10 Most Influential Video Gamers of All Time |publisher=MTVNews.com |date=June 21, 2006 |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1534641/playa-rater-the-10-most-influential-video-gamers-of-all-time/ |access-date=February 16, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303014022/http://www.mtv.com/news/1534641/playa-rater-the-10-most-influential-video-gamers-of-all-time/ |archive-date=March 3, 2016 }}</ref> to gain a fan club of over half a million people.<ref name="pop">{{cite web|author=Cho, Kevin |title=Samsung, SK Telecom, Shinhan Sponsor South Korean Alien Killers |publisher=Bloomberg.com |date=January 15, 2006 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=email_us&refer=asia&sid=a2JvzciDnpB4 |access-date=August 18, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151105123118/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=email_us&refer=asia&sid=a2JvzciDnpB4 |archive-date=November 5, 2015 }}</ref> One player, [[Lee Yun-yeol]], reported earnings in 2005 of {{US$|200000|2005}}.<ref name="fans">{{cite magazine | author = Rossignol, Jim| title = Sex, Fame and PC Baangs: How the Orient plays host to PC gaming's strangest culture| magazine=[[PC Gamer UK]]|date = April 1, 2005| url = http://rossignol.cream.org/?p=284| access-date = August 20, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060202060802/http://rossignol.cream.org/?p=284|archive-date=February 2, 2006}}</ref>

''StarCraft'' was part of the [[United States Air Force]]'s [[Air and Space Basic Course]], used to teach newly active officers about crisis planning under stress and joint service teamwork.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/1485717/US-Air-Force-catalog |title=US Air Force: catalog |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413145141/http://www.scribd.com/doc/1485717/US-Air-Force-catalog |archive-date=April 13, 2014 |publisher=Air University Press |date=June 2000}}</ref>  Other efforts to make more 'realistic' current-day battle software led to distractions when simulated hardware didn't align with the real hardware active duty officers knew about.  The science fiction setting allowed students to focus on the battle tactics.

The annual Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment hosts a competition for AIs playing the game.  As of 2015, humans still win.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ackerman |first1=Evan |title=Custom AI Programs Take on Top Ranked Humans in StarCraft |url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/custom-ai-programs-take-on-top-ranked-humans-in-starcraft |access-date=September 21, 2023 |work=[[IEEE Spectrum]] |date=December 1, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151205025253/https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/artificial-intelligence/custom-ai-programs-take-on-top-ranked-humans-in-starcraft |archive-date=December 5, 2015 }}</ref>

In 2014, an unofficial version for the [[Pandora (console)|Pandora]] handheld and the [[ARM architecture]] became available by [[static recompilation]] and [[reverse engineering]] of the original [[x86]] version.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.golem.de/news/open-pandora-starcraft-fuer-arm-handheld-kompiliert-1403-105031.html |title=Starcraft für ARM-Handheld kompiliert |date=March 10, 2014 |first=Peter |last=Steinlechner |access-date=March 25, 2014 |language=de |publisher=golem.de |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330171713/http://www.golem.de/news/open-pandora-starcraft-fuer-arm-handheld-kompiliert-1403-105031.html |archive-date=March 30, 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://repo.openpandora.org/?page=detail&app=package.starcraft |title=StarCraft |author=notaz |date=March 4, 2014 |access-date=March 26, 2014 |publisher=openpandora.org |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330171901/http://repo.openpandora.org/?page=detail&app=package.starcraft |archive-date=March 30, 2014 }}</ref>

The original game, along with the expansion, was released for free in April 2017.<ref name="Free Starcraft">{{Cite news|url=http://www.polygon.com/2017/4/19/15354716/starcraft-free-download-pc-mac |title=StarCraft is now free |last=Kuchera |first=Ben |date=April 19, 2017 |work=Polygon |access-date=April 19, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170420054005/http://www.polygon.com/2017/4/19/15354716/starcraft-free-download-pc-mac |archive-date=April 20, 2017 }}</ref>

In 2021, [[The Strong National Museum of Play]] inducted ''StarCraft'' to its [[World Video Game Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web |title=StarCraft |url=https://www.museumofplay.org/games/starcraft/ |website=[[The Strong National Museum of Play]] |publisher=[[The Strong]] |access-date=6 May 2022}}</ref> During the [[2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine]], Ukrainian presidential spokesman and Chief of Staff [[Oleksiy Arestovych]] described reports of a potential Russian offensive as a "zerg rush" of 10,000 volunteers (in reference to Zerg swarm species tactics from the game), and proceeded to explain the meaning of the term.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Journal |first1=Odessa |title= Arestovich: "Zerg Rush" is being prepared for us – about the further situation at the front|url=https://odessa-journal.com/arestovich-zerg-rush-is-being-prepared-for-us-about-the-further-situation-at-the-front/|date=May 2, 2022 |access-date=May 13, 2022 }}</ref>