Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness is a fantasy real-time strategy (RTS) computer game developed by Blizzard Entertainment and released for MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows in 1995 and Mac OS in 1996 by Blizzard's parent, Davidson & Associates. A sequel to Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, the game was met with positive reviews and won most of the major PC gaming awards in 1996. In 1996, Blizzard released an expansion pack, Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal, for DOS and Mac OS, and a compilation, Warcraft II: The Dark Saga, for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. The Battle.net edition, released in 1999, included Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal, provided Blizzard's online gaming service, and replaced the MS-DOS version with a Windows one.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA, read 5 September 2026.
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- Released
- 1995
- Developer
- Blizzard Entertainment
- Platforms
- 2 systems
- Critics
- Not scored
- Steam Deck
- Unknown
- Download
- Not stated
The record
| First released | 9 December 1995 |
|---|---|
| Developer | Blizzard Entertainment |
| Publisher | Blizzard Entertainment, Electronic Arts |
| Platforms | PC, PlayStation |
| Genres | Strategy |
Source. Catalogue facts from Wikidata Q741716, seeded 30 August 2026.
How long is Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness? How long to beat it
Total play time for Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness is about 36.4 hours to do everything, and around 20.6 hours to reach the end of the main story. These are player-submitted times from HowLongToBeat, not our own, shown with the number of players behind each.
| How you play | Hours | Players logged |
|---|---|---|
| Just the main story: straight through the critical path | 20.6h | 64 |
| Main + the extras: story plus the side content most people do | 27.4h | 25 |
| Completionist: everything: 100% the game | 36.4h | 27 |
Source: HowLongToBeat community submissions, read 2026-10-19.
Where Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness sits on the grid
The grid places every game in the catalogue on measured axes rather than on an opinion. This is where Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness lands on each map it has the data for, with the share of the catalogue it beats on each axis.
- Year
- 52ahead of 8% of the catalogue
- Reach
- 56ahead of 93% of the catalogue
Percentiles are against the games that carry a reading on that axis, not the whole catalogue: counting a game with no figure as a zero would flatter everything that has one. How the grid works.
What readers say about Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
Reviews written by people who have played it. These are separate from the GamingPickz Score and are never averaged into it: that score comes from thousands of Steam reviews with a sample-size correction, and a handful of unverified ratings would distort it rather than improve it.
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Where Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness appears
The ranked lists and finder pages Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness qualifies for, from its own genre and platform to what it takes to run.
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Common questions about Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
What platforms is Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness on?
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness is available on PC, PlayStation. It first released in 1995.
Who made Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness?
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness was developed by Blizzard Entertainment and published by Blizzard Entertainment, Electronic Arts.
How long does it take to beat Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness?
about 20.6 hours for the main story, 27.4 hours with the main extras, 36.4 hours to complete everything, from HowLongToBeat's player-submitted times. These are community medians, so your own run may be shorter or longer.