Which 1994 real-time strategy game began the Warcraft franchise before World of Warcraft?

The 1994 real-time strategy game that began the Warcraft franchise before World of Warcraft was Warcraft: Orcs & Humans.

Blizzard Entertainment released the game for MS-DOS in North America on November 15, 1994, making it the first entry in the Warcraft series. Players commanded either humans or orcs, gathering resources, constructing bases, producing units, and fighting through campaign missions. The game drew inspiration from earlier strategy titles such as Dune II while adding a distinctive fantasy setting and accessible multiplayer.

Its success led to Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness in 1995 and Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos in 2002. World of Warcraft followed in 2004, transforming the setting into a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. A common mix-up is treating World of Warcraft as the franchise's beginning because it became vastly more famous, but it was actually the fourth major Warcraft game. Warcraft: Orcs & Humans also introduced characters and lore elements that later appeared throughout Azeroth.