Space Marines and Terran, Orks and Orcs (Warcraft), Tyrannid and Zerg, Eldar and Protoss… Looking at images of each side by side, you would swear they were interchangeable names for the same race, but they aren't. In fact, they are races in totally different universes by two entirely different companies. They are so similar that it is only natural to think one had to have copied the other and you would be correct. From time to time topics will pop up in Starcraft forums asking why Warhammer 40k ripped off Blizzard, but to their amazement, that is hardly the case! What was that? Blizzard, the darling child of the videogaming world, copied one of its star IPs from another company's universe? Curiously, it doesn't stop there, Warcraft is where it started.
Before every Blizzard fan starts waving their finger at me, I will say this… There are differences between the universes, but after reading the rest of this article there is no doubt Blizzard did a little copy and paste.
Warhammer 40k on the top and StarCraft on the bottom
Games Workshop's Warhammer 40k
Games Workshop sprouted up around the time Dungeons and Dragons (DnD) became popular in western culture. They established their name by officially carrying DnD for the UK market. They were paramount in spreading the word for RPGs in the UK and eventually started making metal miniatures for the game. In the early 1980's they started their first table top war game called Warhammer Fantasy Battle (which is what Warhammer Online is based off of.) The wargame was incredibly successful and in the late 1980's they expanded their line of table top miniatures to include Warhammer 40,000.
In the early to mid 90's Games Workshop underwent explosive growth in the US. They established gaming centers all over the United States with Warhammer 40k being the main draw. Today, Warhammer 40k is a fully fleshed out universe containing multiple series of books, board games, table top games, videogames, trading card games, and more.
The Emperor himself, beginning his conquest for profits
Blizzard and the Warhammer Fiasco
Blizzard started its life in 1991 with just a handful of employees and a different name. It completed a few projects before reorganizing under the name of Chaos Studios (Chaos and Warhammer go hand in hand...) They realized the name was already taken and switched to Blizzard Entertainment. Their first game as a new developer was the smash hit Warcraft: Orks and Humans, but we are getting ahead of ourselves.
Originally, Blizzard contacted Games Workshop to make a Warhammer real time strategy game. GW supposedly gave them the go ahead and Blizzard began to make the game. Somewhere between half way to eighty percent of the way done with the game, GW pulled the license from Blizzard. Blizzard had a game almost completed without a name! They decided to rename the game, characters, and adjust the story to their own IP which they called Warcraft. This is not speculation, but the real deal. It is not that Blizzard happened to come up with similar characters, they just changed the names in their first game!
Riding the Wave
Future was in during the late 90's with the release of the Matrix, Independence Day, and the new millennium being on the horizon. Blizzard was smart to capitalize on the technology/future craze by releasing a futurist copy of their Warcraft series in the name of Starcraft. The game did incredibly well and has sold more than 11 million copies. However, with this release brought a whole new debate into the forefront, did they copy Warhammer 40k this time or is this just a natural evolution from fantasy to the future?
It is not hard to see the heavy influence Warhammer 40k has had on Starcraft. The Terran are huge, heavily armored men much like the Astartes (Space Marines) from Warhammer 40k. The Zerg are a mob race of insect like creatures which feed off of biological material, exactly like the Tyrannid. The Protoss are a race of highly intelligent, magic oriented humanoids much like the Eldar. These are too precise to be considered accidental coincidences, especially the Zerg and Terran.
Horus turned traitor and tried to kill the Emperor while creating the armies of Chaos, Arthus anyone?
Differences
After getting past the surface similarities, there is a lot of difference in the actual lore of the universes. The Warhammer 40k universe is much more established and has a lot more depth with 10+ races, countless books, tabletop games, videogames, card games, and much more. Its universe is also much darker with aspects of religion coming into play. Starcraft on the other hand is much lighter with a more cartoon appearance and a less fleshed out storyline. Overall, once the character models are out of the way both universes feel a lot different from each other.
What does it mean???
This really doesn't mean much, it is just fun to discuss. It is very interesting to see one of videogaming's main IPs having been copied from table top gaming from the 80s. Some have speculated that GW tried to sue Blizzard at one time or another, but nothing can be proven.
One thing that can be taken away from this is that if you enjoy Starcraft's rich universe then you should definitely check out some Warhammer 40k stuff as it is more advanced (in terms of fluff and alternate gaming other than RTS) and more "adult oriented" than what Blizzard is shooting for. I will leave you with some expertly painted Warhammer miniatures!
Images borrowed from Coolminisornot