Real-time strategy game

Lore & Background

The genre recognized today as real-time strategy emerged from an extended period of evolution and refinement. Games sometimes perceived as ancestors were never marketed or designed as such, making designation of early titles problematic. The genre initially evolved separately in the United Kingdom, Japan, and North America, afterward gradually merging into a unified worldwide tradition. Tim Barry in May 1981 described a multiplayer strategy space game with 'real-time response' that ran on an IBM System/370 Model 168. Ars Technica traces the genre's roots back to Utopia (1982), citing it as the 'birth of a genre' with a 'real-time element' that was 'virtually unheard of', though it was a turn-based strategy game with hybrid elements. According to Brett Weiss, Utopia is often cited as 'the first real-time strategy game.' Matt Barton and Bill Loguidice state that Utopia 'helped set the template' but has 'more in common with SimCity than it does with Dune II and later RTS games.' Barton also cites Cytron Masters (1982) as 'one of the first (if not the first) real-time strategy game,' though Scott Sharkey of 1UP argues it was 'much more tactical than strategic' due to 'the inability to construct units or manage resources.' Byte in December 1982 published Cosmic Conquest, described as 'a real-time space strategy game.' In the United Kingdom, early RTS games include Stonkers (1983) and Nether Earth (1987). In North America, The Ancient Art of War (1984) is retrospectively classified as RTS by several sources. In Japan, Bokosuka Wars (1983) is considered an early prototype RTS by Ray Barnholt of 1UP. Herzog Zwei (1989) is cited by IGN as 'arguably the first RTS game ever' and by Ars Technica as 'the first real-time strategy game.' It introduced much of the genre conventions, including unit construction and resource management. Chuck Sperry cited Herzog Zwei as an influence on Dune II.

Reader's Guide

The real-time strategy genre became widely recognized as a distinct category with the release of Dune II (1992) from Westwood Studios, which featured all the core concepts and mechanics still used today, such as using the mouse to move units and gathering resources. Drawing influence from Herzog Zwei, Populous, Eye of the Beholder, and the Macintosh user interface, Dune II served as the prototype for later RTS games. The success of Dune II encouraged several influential titles: Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (1994) achieved great prominence with its fantasy setting and depiction of a full fictitious society; Command & Conquer (1995) and Command & Conquer: Red Alert (1996) became the most popular early RTS games, contending with Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness (1995). Following these successes, a large number of competing RTS titles were announced, with Computer Gaming World observing many announcements at E3 in 1997 and 40 titles marketed during the 1997 Christmas holiday season. Total Annihilation (1997) introduced 3D units and terrain and focused on huge battles. The genre's legacy includes complex user interfaces that borrowed features from desktop environments, such as 'clicking and dragging' to select multiple units. While some genres share similarities with RTS, city-building games, construction and management simulations, and real-time tactics games are generally not considered RTS, though god games are included.

Did You Know?

• The term 'real-time strategy' was coined by Brett Sperry to market Dune II in the early 1990s.
• Ars Technica traces the genre's roots back to Utopia (1982), citing it as the 'birth of a genre'.
• Herzog Zwei (1989) is cited by IGN as 'arguably the first RTS game ever' and by Ars Technica as 'the first real-time strategy game'.
• Dune II (1992) from Westwood Studios served as the prototype for later real-time strategy games, featuring all core concepts still used today.

The Birth of a Name and a Genre

The label "real-time strategy" did not emerge organically from a community of developers; it was deliberately crafted as a marketing term by Brett Sperry in the early 1990s to promote Dune II. Before that moment, the games that would eventually cluster under this banner had no shared identity. The genre as we recognize it today grew out of a long, winding period of experimentation and refinement, and the titles we now call "early RTS" were never designed or sold with that label in mind. This creates a genuine difficulty for historians: judging those pioneering works against the standards of a modern genre they never intended to serve. What makes the story even more layered is that the genre did not sprout from a single soil. It evolved in parallel across three distinct regions—the United Kingdom, Japan, and North America—each producing its own lineage of experiments before those separate threads gradually wove together into the unified worldwide tradition that defines the category today.

The Anatomy of a Real-Time Strategy Game

At its core, a real-time strategy game asks a player to juggle an enormous web of simultaneous tasks without the safety net of turns. Rather than waiting for an opponent to finish their move, the player must continuously gather resources, erect structures, advance a technological ladder, and direct a growing army—all while the clock never stops. Units operate under indirect control: the player issues commands and sets objectives, but the troops execute on their own. Resources are the lifeblood of the entire system, typically collected by holding specific map locations or by maintaining dedicated harvesting units and buildings, and they gate every expansion, every new unit, every upgrade. The cognitive load is so heavy that the genre's user interfaces grew increasingly sophisticated, even borrowing conventions from desktop computing, such as the click-and-drag box selection that lets a player grab every unit inside a drawn rectangle with a single gesture. Importantly, the genre draws firm boundaries: city-builders, construction simulations, and pure real-time tactics titles are generally excluded, with only god games—where the player assumes a creator's role—sometimes overlapping the category.

A Global Patchwork of Pioneers

The earliest experiments that would seed the RTS genre appeared almost simultaneously across three continents, each with its own flavor. In the United Kingdom, John Gibson's Stonkers (1983) for the ZX Spectrum and the later Nether Earth (1987) are frequently cited as the genre's first British entries. North America's retrospective claimants include The Ancient Art of War (1984), designed by the Murray brothers at Evryware, and its 1987 naval sequel. Japan contributed Bokosuka Wars (1983), a strategy RPG in which a player leads an army across a battlefield while recruiting soldiers in real time, and Sega's Gain Ground (1988), a strategy-action title involving directing troops through enemy-filled levels. On the American side, Tim Barry described a multiplayer real-time space strategy game running on an IBM System/370 as early as May 1981, and Byte magazine published Cosmic Conquest as a type-in program in December 1982. Utopia (1982) is often called the genre's birth, blending turn-based structure with a real-time element virtually unheard of at the time, while Cytron Masters (1982) is credited by some as the very first real-time strategy game, though critics note it leaned more tactical than strategic due to the absence of unit construction and resource management.

Herzog Zwei: The Blueprint That Defined a Genre

Released in 1989 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Herzog Zwei occupies a singular place in gaming history. IGN has called it "arguably the first RTS game ever," and Ars Technica notes it is frequently cited as the first real-time strategy game. What sets it apart is the marriage of traditional strategic depth with fully real-time, fast-paced arcade action. Its split-screen two-player mode puts both competitors in simultaneous action with no pauses, forcing rapid decision-making under pressure. Although the player commands only a single unit, the style of control already foreshadowed the point-and-click mechanics that would become standard in later titles. Scott Sharkey of 1UP argues the game introduced many of the genre's foundational conventions: unit construction, resource management, the strategic importance of controlling and destroying enemy bases, and the economic and production systems underpinning those bases. 1UP goes further, crediting Herzog Zwei as the landmark that defined the genre and calling it "the progenitor of all modern real-time strategy games." Chuck Sperry himself pointed to Herzog Zwei as a direct influence on Dune II, the very title that would eventually coin the genre's name.