Almost any game Blizzard Entertainment releases becomes one of the best-selling games of the year, but unlike other top-sellers like Deer Hunter or Barbie Fashion, Blizzard games also garner critical acclaim and many "Game of the Year" awards.

1998 was no different. According to figures just released by PC Data, Starcraft was the best-selling game of 1998, selling more than 1.5 million copies worldwide. That's the third Blizzard game in a row to sell more than a million copies (not including expansion packs), the previous two being Diablo and Warcraft II.

"Our goal has always been to create the best games in the world, so we are truly excited over the success of Starcraft," said Mike Morhaime, president of Blizzard. "Our track record with the Warcraft series, Diablo and Starcraft proves that our mission of releasing only AAA titles is more than just lip service. We remain dedicated to maintaining the highest development and design standards to ensure that gamers experience quality gameplay."

Blizzard's success in 1998 marks three years of successful releases. Warcraft II was the best-selling game of 1996, and was named Game of the Year by PC Gamer. And in 1997 Diablo, while beaten out by Riven and Microsoft Flight Simulator, was number three, and named CGW's Game of the Year.

But despite its successes, 1998 was a rockier year for Blizzard than it is used to. Internal disputes led to some developers departing the company to found their own start-ups, and the company also scrapped Warcraft Adventures, an adventure game set in the Warcraft universe. That project was killed because Blizzard was unhappy with the game's quality.

Next up for Blizzard is Diablo II, which has a release date for the second half of 1999, after E3.

--JB