 Development on Brood War began shortly after the release of StarCraft in 1998, and was announced after the release of StarCraft's first two expansion packs, Insurrection and Retribution. Most of the team at Blizzard Entertainment responsible for StarCraft returned to work on Brood War. They were assisted by members of Saffire, who were contracted for a variety of tasks consisting of programming and design for levels, visuals, and audio effects. According to Shane Dabiri, the game's producer, Brood War aimed to drastically increase the significance of the story within gameplay, stating that the team was adding scripting that would allow "Final Fantasy type events" to be played out during the course of a level. Dabiri further explained that the objectives in the missions would also reflect the story in a far more interactive way, with players being presented with tactical decisions over which objectives to pursue and with fewer missions revolving around simple annihilation of the enemy. Although originally slated for release in the US in October 1998, Brood War's release was delayed by a month for a November release.
