Raynor's Raiders

Did You Know?

• Blizzard Entertainment began planning development on StarCraft in 1995, shortly after the beginning of development for Diablo.
• The soundtrack for the original StarCraft was provided by Glenn Stafford, Jason Hayes, and Tracey W. Bush.
• In May 1998, Blizzard Entertainment filed a lawsuit against Microstar Software for selling an unauthorized add-on to StarCraft entitled Stellar Forces.

Story

Raynor's Raiders were formed after Arcturus Mengsk sacrificed his second-in-command, Sarah Kerrigan, to the Zerg during the assault on the Confederate capital, Tarsonis. Jim Raynor, one of Mengsk's commanders, deserted him with a small army in response to this betrayal. The group later assisted the Protoss commander Tassadar and the Dark Templar Zeratul in their efforts against the Zerg. Tassadar, pursued as a heretic for working with the Dark Templar, returned to Aiur with Raynor and the templar Fenix. Together, they attacked the Overmind, and Tassadar ultimately sacrificed himself to kill the creature. The Raiders continued to oppose Mengsk's Terran Dominion and remained active in the conflicts among the three species.

Games

Raynor's Raiders appear in the real-time strategy game StarCraft, released for Windows on March 31, 1998, and later for Mac OS in March 1999. The player assumes the role of a Confederate colonial governor who becomes a revolutionary commander in the Terran campaign, which includes the formation of the Raiders. The group also features in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, released in 2010, which takes place four years after the end of Brood War. In that game, the player commands Raynor's Raiders as they fight against the Terran Dominion. The Raiders are not a playable faction in the spin-off titles Insurrection and Retribution, which are authorized expansion packs to the original game. The cancelled stealth-action game StarCraft: Ghost would have included elements related to the Raiders' storyline.

Adaptations and other media

Raynor's Raiders are referenced in several novelizations published by Simon & Schuster. The novel StarCraft: Liberty's Crusade, written by Jeff Grubb and published in March 2001, adapts the first campaign of StarCraft and follows a journalist who encounters key Terran characters, including members of the Raiders. StarCraft: Speed of Darkness, written by Tracy Hickman and published in June 2002, is told from the viewpoint of a Confederate marine during the early stages of StarCraft and includes events related to the Raiders. The anthology The StarCraft Archive, released in November 2007, reprints the first four novels, including the e-book StarCraft: Uprising, which covers the origins of Sarah Kerrigan and the circumstances leading to the Raiders' formation.

Reception and cultural impact

The StarCraft series, including the campaigns featuring Raynor's Raiders, has been a commercial success, selling over 1.5 million copies worldwide in its release year and over 9.5 million copies globally within a decade. The game rapidly grew in popularity in South Korea, where professional players and teams compete in televised matches. StarCraft has won numerous Game of the Year awards and is often described as one of the best real-time strategy games made. The series is widely credited with popularizing the use of distinct and unique sides in real-time strategy games. The original game and its expansion Brood War have been praised as benchmark real-time strategy games of their time. By the end of 2017, the franchise's lifetime revenue totaled over $1 billion.