Starcraft, Warcraft, and C&C: Real Time Comparisons
Let’s talk real-time strategy games; specifically, the behemoth franchises.
First, a timeline:
Warcraft the first, 1994. Warcraft II, 1995. Command and Conquer Original Recipe, 1995. Starcraft, 1998. Warcraft III, 2002.
Second, studio history:
The ‘Crafts are Blizzard, as everyone knows. (Oh, since this is the history section, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that Blizzard did not invent the look or feel of the Warcraft universe. Or the Starcraft one, for that matter. There’s a company called “Games Workshop” that developed a design aesthetic, color scheme, character designs, and a certain worldview back in the 1980s. They didn’t call their stuff Warcraft or Starcraft. They called their stuff “Warhammer” and “Warhammer 40K.”Blizzard introduced some originality into Warcraft III, and of course WoW is its own entire flavor at this point, and that flavor is considerably lighter than the grimmer and grittier Warhammer universe, but for the record, five minutes of Google Fu will establish that Games Workshop material predates Blizzard material by quite a lot. Now you know, and knowing is… something!) The C&C franchise began with the late lamented Westwood Studios, which was independent until 1999, when it was purchased by EA. EA did not actually borg the studio into their collective until 2003.
Third, the sales numbers:
Comparing apples to apples is not possible. Starcraft has sold roughly ten million copies. It’s hard to get a real feel for the Warcraft series sales as a whole, since the earliest editions predate the kind of hard core navel gazing that game reporting (and fact cross-checking) on the internet has engendered. But Warcraft III, arguably the best of the series, had a 4.5 million PREORDER. Command and Conquer is even harder to pin down, considering that it has been developed by three technically different studios over its history, dates back into pre-history (as far as the internet is concerned), has some non-RTS titles using the franchise name, and is playable on several platforms. Wikipedia says the franchise as a whole has shipped 21 million “units.” That is not at all the same as 21 million sales, but it’s still impressive.
Fourth, our numbers:
GamerDNA members usually just put down the franchise name in their profiles, rather than spelling out which particular game. Command and Conquer players in particular don’t seem to spell out which flavor of C&C they mean. However, “Warcraft” usually means “Warcraft III.” And of course, profiles are snapshots of a player’s total gaming history, and not a reflection of current status. The numbers are 2320 profile mentions of Starcraft, 1974 for Warcraft, and 1397 for C&C.
According to the Xfire feeds for our members, GamerDNA members into the RTS genre are currently playing (in descending order): Warcraft III, Command and Conquer, and Starcraft isn’t actually on the list.
The juxtaposition of the historical snapshot and the current play stats tell me a couple things. One: Multiplayer makes a game live forever. Two: Cross platform releases makes up a lot of ground lost to buzz, hype, or bad advertising. Three: Starcraft Online: Its Time Has Come. Four, killing a studio does not kill its product, regardless of what the chattering classes say.
What do the numbers say to you?
