Last update: March 2013

Many people spent Martin Luther King Jr’s holiday schlepping around their house, possibly at work or, and this is the really good-natured people out there, donating their time to a charity. Me, well I spent my time re-organizing my gaming shelves (due to in-home construction).

During the shuffling of games, the mingling of HDDVD (fail) and BluRay and coupling of previous and current generation peripherals I stumbled across a “lost” form of entertainment, the tactile sensations of books, board games and graphic novella. During the organization of this unconnected form of entertainment I realized one important fact: There’s a lot of Expanded Universe material to Blizzard’s universes.

Hit the Continue Reading stub to have your mind blown by the vast amounts of novels, board games, manga, comics and trading card game paraphernalia that have been created to extend one of Blizzard’s three universes. Did we miss something? Let us know in the comments!

Jump to:

• Diablo
• StarCraft
• Warcraft

Diablo is easily the least licensed universe that Blizzard has created. One can only assume that this will dramatically change as Diablo III’s release date slowly approaches. At the very least, expect a tie in novel.

Comics:

• Tales of Sanctuary (2001)

Games:

• Diablo (1996)
• Diablo: Hellfire (1997) – not considered canon
• Diablo II Battle Chest (2000, 2001)
• Diablo III (2011?)*

Novels:

• Diablo Archive – The Sin War (2006, 2007, 2007)
• Demonsbane (2000)
• Legacy of Blood (2001)
• The Black Road (2002)
• The Kingdom of Shadow (2002)
• Moon of the Spider (2005)
• Diablo: The Order (May 29, 2012)*

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StarCraft took the crown of the most licensed universe until World of Warcraft began to dominate the universe, all of them. The franchise is seeing its expanded universe rekindle thanks to the continued success of StarCraft II domestically and abroad.

Board Games:

• StarCraft: The Board Game (2007)
• StarCraft: The Board Game: Brood War (2008)
• Risk: StarCraft (2012)

Comics:

• StarCraft: Book 1 (2010)

Games:

• StarCraft Battle Chest (1998, 1998)
• StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (2010)
• StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm (2013)
• StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void (2014?)*

Manga:

• Frontline: Volume 1 (2008)
• Frontline: Volume 2 (2009)
• Frontline: Volume 3 (2009)
• Frontline: Volume 4 (2009)
• Ghost Academy: Volume 1 (2010) – Check out our review.
• Ghost Academy: Volume 2 (2010) – Check out our review.
• Ghost Academy: Volume 3 (2011) – Check out our review.

Novels:

• The StarCraft Archive: An Anthology (2000, 2001, 2001, 2002)
• Queen of Blades (2006)
• Ghost: Nova (2006)
• The Dark Templar Saga: Firstborn (2007)
• The Dark Templar Saga: Shadow Hunters (2007)
• I, Mengsk (2008)
• The Dark Templar Saga: Twilight (2009)
• Heaven’s Devils (2010) – Check out our review.
• Devils’ Due (2011) – Check out our review.
• Ghost: Spectres (2011) – Check out our review.
• Flashpoint (2012) – Check out our review.

Web Stories (free):

• Wings of Liberty: Changeling, Mothership, Broken Wide, Collateral Damage, Stealing Thunder, Colossus (Review)
• Heaven’s Devils: Lost Transmissions
• Heart of the Swarm: In the Blood, A War On, The Teacher, Frenzy

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Warcraft is the leader in Blizzard’s licensing war with dozens of items spread across all forms of nerdy entertainment. The comic, trading card game, manga and miniatures endeavors have each seen a bit of turmoil, but the novels garnered Blizzard and Christie Golden their first New York Times Bestseller honors.

Board Games & RPG Books:

• 

  Yeah, that says 'Free Parking.' Too much research for 'Free Hearthstone'?

  Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game (2003)

• Manual of Monsters (2003)
• Alliance & Horde Compendium (2003)
• Magic & Mayhem (2004)
• Lands of Conflict (2004)
• Shadows & Light (2004)
• World of Warcraft: The Board Game (2005)
• More Magic and Mayhem (2005)
• Lands of Mystery (2005)
• Alliance Player’s Guide (2006)
• Horde Player’s Guide (2006)
• Monster Guide (2007)
• World of Warcraft: The Adventures Game (2008)
• Dark Factions (2008)
• Monopoly: World of Warcraft (2012)
• Mega Bloks

Comics:

• The Comic: Volume 1 (2008)
• Ashbringer (2009)
• Beginnings and Ends (2009)
• The Comic: Volume 2 (2009)
• The Comic: Volume 3 (2010)
• The Comic: Volume 4 (2010)
• Curse of the Worgen (2010-2011)
• Pearl of Pandaria (2012)

Games:

• Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (1994)
• Warcraft II Battle Chest (1995, 1996)
• Warcraft III Battle Chest (2002, 2003)
• World of Warcraft Battle Chest (2004, 2007)
• World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (2008)
• World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (2010)
• World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria (2012)

Manga:

• The Sunwell Trilogy (2005, 2006, 2007)
• Legends: Volume 1 (2008)
• Legends: Volume 2 (2008)
• Legends: Volume 3 (2009)
• Legends: Volume 4 (2009)
• Legends: Volume 5 (2009)
• Death Knight (2009)
• The Dragons of Outland: Volume 1 – Shadow Wing (2010) – Check out our review.
• Mage (2010) – Check out our review.
• Shaman (2010) – Check out our review.
• The Dragons of Outland: Volume 2 – Nexus Point (2011) – Check out our review.
• The Dragons of Outland: Volume 3 – Untitled (Limbo)*

Novels:

• Warcraft Archive (2001, 2001, 2001, 2001)
• Warcraft War of the Ancients Archive (2004, 2004, 2005) – Check out our review.
• Cycle of Hatred (2006)
• Rise of the Horde (2006)
• Tides of Darkness (2007)
• Beyond the Dark Portal (2008)
• Night of the Dragon (2008)
• Arthas: Rise of the Lich King (2010)
• Stormrage (2010) – Check out our review.
• The Shattering – Prelude to Cataclysm (2010) – Check out our review.
• Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects (2011) – Check out our review.
• Wolfheart (2011) – Check out our review.
• Jaine Proudmoore: Tides of War (2012) – Check out our review.
• Vol’jin: Shadows of the Horde (April 2013)*

Trading Card Game & Miniatures:

• Heroes of Azeroth (2006)
• Onyxia’s Lair (2006)
• Molten Core (2007)
• Through the Dark Portal (2007)
• Fires of Outland (2007)
• Magtheridon’s Lair (2008)
• Black Temple (2008)
• Servents of the Betrayer (2008)
• The Hunt for Illidan (2008)
• Drums of War (2008)
• WoW Miniatures Core Set (2008)
• Blood of Gladiators (2009)
• Spoils of War Booster (2009)
• Fields of Honor (2009)
• Scourgewar (2009)
• Naxxramas (2009)
• Wrath Gate (2010)
• Icecrown (2010)
• Worldbreaker (2010)
• War of Elements (2011)
• Twilight of the Dragons (2011)
• Aftermath: Throne of the Tides (2011)
• Aftermath: Crown of the Heavens (2012)
• Aftermath: Tomb of the Forgotten (2013)

Web Stories (free):

• The War Effort
• The War of the Shifting Sands
• Road to Damnation
• Unbroken
• Rise of the Lich King
• Glory
• Charge of the Aspects
• Li Li’s Travel Journal
• Quest for Pandaria
• Trial of the Red Blossoms

Leader Web Stories (free):

• Genn Greymane: Lord of His Pack – Check out our review.
• Gallywix: Trade Secrets of a Trade Prince
• The Council of Three Hammers: Fire and Iron
• Vol’Jin: The Judgement – Check out our review.
• Varian Wrynn: Blood of Our Fathers
• Gelbin Mekkatorque: Cut Short
• Velen: Prophet’s Lesson
• Tyrande Whisperwind: Seeds of Faith
• Baine Bloodhoof: As Our Fathers Before Us
• Sylvanas Whisperwind: Edge of Night
• Garrosh Hellscream: Heart of War
• Lor’themar Theron: In the Shadow of the Sun

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That took way longer to research and compile than I expected…

Notes:
When available, compilations are listed instead of individual pieces.
* denotes upcoming or on-going releases.