As we’re currently smack bang in the middle of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (a.k.a. E3, arguably one of the biggest annual trade fairs in any industry), now seems like a good time to reflect on the biggest expanding territory in video gaming’s dominating empire; online gaming. It’s a phenomenon which has been steadily increasing in popularity for a good few years and these days you have to dig deep to find a game which doesn’t feature some sort of online compatibility. But where and when did it all start, and who can we call the pioneers of this brave new world?
Well, it all started earlier than you probably think. The very first online game was a title called Snipes, a text-based game played between multiple people on multiple IBM personal computer systems which debuted in 1983. But, when we talk about online gaming at this stage, we’re essentially talking about MMORPGs, or massively multiplayer online role playing games, which have their origins in real-life role playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons. They are the forerunners of modern online gaming. People commonly associate World of Warcraft with the advent of MMORPGs, and while Warcraft certainly blasted the genre into popular culture, it didn’t do so until 2004. The ahead-of-the-curve Island of Kesmai, released in 1985, actually retains the honour of being the first commercial online game, while Neverwinter Nights, released in 1991, was the first entry in the genre to display graphics. Hot on its heels came Legends of Kesmai, a sequel to Island, which was released in 1996.
Then came the Internet. The first commercial text-based MMORPG to make this transition to the ‘net from a proprietary network provider (CompuServe, in this case) was Legends of Future Past in the early nineties. After some false starts, the baton was passed to the blazingly successful fantasy series Ultima Online in 1997. the storytelling and community potential captured the imagination of developers and players alike, and since the late nineties, online gaming has gone from strength to strength. Once World of Warcraft was launched in 2004, the genre hit the mainstream, with hundreds of other MMORPGs being released each year. WoW still currently sits at the top of the pile though, with over 7.1 million subscribers as of June 2015.
Other genres of game proceeded to see the benefits and appeal of communal gameplay, and soon every type of game, from beat ’em ups to racers to casino games began to incorporate an online element, where players could log on and challenge another random player from halfway across the world. Once smartphones were released in the mid-to-late 2000s, apps became a staple of popular culture, many of them utilising an online component. Some of theses games were direct ports of MMORPGs or new ones created in the same vein, like the wildly popular Clash of Clans. Online casinos also found a fitting home on handheld screens, with sites like casino.netbet.co.uk incorporating an app and a mother-base website to provide a well-rounded online experience.
Online gaming is huge, and it’s not going away anytime soon. As the internet gets faster and more prolific, online games will follow, with the big developers like Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo already planning big releases years into the future. Whether you like Warcraft, Street Fighter, Mario Kart, GTA or simply a few spins of a roulette wheel, get online with it to discover the full potential of this quite wonderful feat of human invention.
