The journey started 52 years ago when a game called Empire was designed for the PLATO educational computer system. The game allowed up to eight players on the same shared network to combat in the space. This was the first of the first, and since then, we have come a long way. A really long one!
Mientras escribo esto (As I write this), we have great titles like Counter-Strike, Need for Speed, Dota2, and more. But how did these online multiplayer games get so refined? I was interested to know that, too, the way you are.
The history of online multiplayer games is pretty fascinating, which started from the good ol’ LAN parties to what we have today. And trust me, it is worth knowing. Yes? Let me tell you the evolution of online multiplayer games in detail.
First-Ever Multiplayer Games
Ya que estamos hablando de la evolución de los juegos (since we are talking about the evolution of the games), let me take you back to the first-ever multiplayer games.
The first multiplayer game was developed in 1958 by William Higinbotham. The game allowed only two players to play on the same device. It was basically a tennis-related game that was infused with graphics. It doesn’t sound exciting, but for that time, it must have been pretty addictive.
Then came Spacewar, which also allowed a maximum of two players to play in a space simulation. The game had two spaceships that threw fireballs at each other. The game had slightly better graphics than the first iteration of the multiplayer and laid the foundation for what was to come.
Then there was a game on the PLATO system, Empire, as mentioned at the beginning. The last of the first multiplayer offline games were Pong, Gunfight, and Breakout. They were all in the category of arcade games, and they were pretty exciting and kept students hooked late at night.
LAN Parties
Today, internet está ampliamente disponible (the internet is widely available). Today, providers like Spectrum offer low-latency on WiFi, cheap plans, and bilingual atención al cliente de Spectrum.
Since the availability of the internet is pretty common, you might not remember the LAN parties, especially if you are a 2000s kid. Those were the good ol’ days of LAN. Basically, people would gather at the same place and at the same time. The systems got connected, and everyone played the same game on the same network. It was really fun. Though the fun part is still there, people generally stay at home to play multiplayer games.
When the internet performance improved, we saw it evolving to complete multiplayer gaming.
Full-Fledged Online Multiplayer Gaming
It was at this moment that things completely changed. People preferred staying at their homes, and that was actually good for the gaming industry as it reached new heights. However, it was still far from reaching its peak (I will explore that in the coming text).
The first of the high-performance multiplayer games had low-quality graphics, and the mechanics weren’t as smooth as they are today. Sometimes they were choppy and lagged, but they were still a step ahead of the LAN parties.
Algunos ejemplos de los primeros juegos (a few examples of first-ever games) that were played wirelessly were Quake (1996) and Unreal Tournament (1999). Such games gave the foundation to the great games that were yet to come, and the ones that we cherish playing today.
Cross-Platform Gaming
One of the drawbacks of the first iteration of the online multiplayer games was that they were platform-limited. In simple words, if you were playing on the PC, you could not team up with someone who was playing on an XBOX or any other console.
But today, it is not a problem anymore. If you have ever played PUBG Mobile on your phone, you might have seen emulator players join the lobby from their PCs, making the gaming experience fun, inclusive and helpful for everyone.
Helpful in a way that without cross-platform play, the lobbies were limited, and so were the players. With the cross-platform play, you wait less and spend more time gaming. So, it was great for the gaming industry.
Last But Not Least, Cloud Computing in Multiplayer Games
This is the current era of multiplayer games, and todavía está en fase de desarrollo (it is still in the development phase).
It might be confusing without an understanding of cloud computing, so let me help here.
Cloud computing is basically processing done on a server, and not on the host device. This is one of the best advancements not just in gaming but for the whole tech industry. In simple words, you don’t need the best hardware resources to run a heavy game on your device. The server will run the game and will use the internet to display in real-time what is going on at the back end of the server.
This enables a large number of users who have high-speed internet, want to play high-end games, but don’t want to go through the hassle of building a PC. They can utilize cloud computing to have fun.
