Nuclear launch detected is the warning heard in StarCraft when an opposing player targets an area with a nuclear strike, a powerful late-game attack that must be spotted and evacuated quickly. The phrase became familiar to real-time strategy players through long-running matches, tournament broadcasts, and later gameplay clips shared online. Its dry, matter-of-fact delivery made it easy to reuse outside the game, especially in edits where a small mistake is treated like a world-ending event. That mix of genuine tension and comic exaggeration keeps it in circulation among gaming creators.