Warcraft is a fantasy video game series and media franchise created by Blizzard Entertainment. The series consists of six core games: Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (1994), Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness (1995), Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (2002), World of Warcraft (2004), Hearthstone (2014), and Warcraft Rumble (2023). Initially a real-time strategy (RTS) series, Warcraft expanded into other game genres beginning with World of Warcraft, a highly influential massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). The franchise has also spawned novels, comics, a tabletop role-playing game, a trading card game, and a 2016 feature film.
The franchise is primarily set on the planet Azeroth, as well as related planets and metaphysical dimensions. Azeroth is inhabited by various races and civilizations, including typical fantasy races such as elves, dwarves, gnomes, orcs, and trolls, along with original races and creatures unique to the franchise. Its lore and story center on warfare between the races and factions of Azeroth, typically between the human-led Alliance and the orc-led Horde, chronicling the exploits of heroes and villains on both sides. While high fantasy at its core, the Warcraft universe incorporates a diverse assortment of influences, including science fiction and dark fantasy. Warcraft has been noted as differentiating itself from other fantasy universes by highlighting "monster races" such as orcs, trolls, and undead, often portraying them as protagonists and giving them significant character development and moral complexity.