Playing games can be traced back thousands of years and things have developed massively from the primitive games of ancient times to the online gaming of today. We are lucky to live in an age where it is possible to sit at a computer or pick up a mobile phone and start playing games online instantly. You also do not need to be in the same room as someone else to play competitively thanks to online gaming. Below we take a look the evolution of online gaming and how it has become such a huge industry.
Early Online Gaming
Many people believe online gaming has only been in existence since the widespread introduction of the internet. However, that is not the case and in the late 1970s, the PLATO time-sharing system allowed people in different locations to play various multiplayer games including air and tank combat games. The games featured an interplayer messaging system and this allowed the players to communicate during the game.
Fast forward to 1984 and the Islands of Kesmai, created by CompuServe, was the first commercial multiplayer online role-playing game. To play the game, a connection fee was paid, and players were charged by the hour for their gaming. The graphics were based on scrolling text, but additional graphics could be downloaded, and these enhanced the look of the game. Both CompuServe and The Source were at the forefront of online gaming in the 1980s and they are two of the first online service providers. For most people, paying to access the online services of CompuServe and The Source was their first experience of online gaming. Thanks to the development of IP Multicast in 1989, playing games across the internet was possible, with Atari and Sega two of the first companies to take advantage of IP Multicast.
The 1990s
Throughout the 1990s, every gaming console manufacturer tried to push online gaming to customers. Pathway to Darkness and Doom were two successful online games introduced in the early 1990s. Nintendo, Sega, and Atari all provided online gaming options but one of the biggest gaming releases came in 1994, with the release of Warcraft. This game has become one of the most popular online video gaming franchises of all time and was at the forefront of online role-playing games. When Windows 95 was released, it was a major development in the evolution of online gaming. Starcraft was launched in 1998 and Everquest was another major online multiplayer game to become available.
Online Casinos
We cannot discuss online gaming in the 1990s without mentioning the introduction of online casinos. The first online casino was called The Gaming Club and it went live in 1994. Such has been the continued success of online casinos that The Gaming Club is still in existence today. In terms of real money casinos, 1995 saw the rise of CryptoLogic and this made it possible for real money transactions to take place at online casinos. InterCasino was the first online casino to implement CryptoLogic and give players the chance to play online casino games using real money. Online casino gaming exploded in the 2000s and today, we have thousands of quality online casinos and games to enjoy. Of course, this increase in casino options means that competition is fierce in the industry. Online casinos need to be innovative in order to attract customers from their competitors and they will offer various bonuses, such as free spins, no deposit sign-ups and many others, to tempt new players. This increased competition coupled with advances in technology means that it has never been a better time to be an online casino player.
2000s and Mobile Online Gaming
The early 2000s saw Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft release consoles with online capabilities. The Xbox came with Xbox Live, and this led to more people becoming engaged with online gaming. Halo was one of the driving forces behind the popularity of online gaming in the early 2000s and with Sony and Nintendo as well as personal computers following suit, the way games were not only played but also purchased changed forever.
World of Warcraft was released in 2004 for personal computers and became an enormous success, with people logging on from all over the world to play the game. More multiplayer online games were developed as a result and people started to play competitively against each other on consoles, seeing the birth of Esports. Many of the most popular games today are both purchased and played online, with people spending a lot of money via in-game purchases.
There was one further big online gaming development in the 2000s as people turned to their mobile phones for entertainment. In 2009, Angry Birds became the first online mobile game to explode and seven years later, the first augmented reality online mobile game was released, called Pokémon Go. Today, millions of people choose to play online games using a smartphone and online mobile gaming has become more popular than any other form of gaming. Many of the major console games have an online mobile version and online casinos develop mobile applications, such is the demand for online mobile gaming.
The evolution of online gaming has been a long and interesting journey, and it is set to continue for decades to come.
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