The first episodic game appeared in 1979.
Automated Simulations'
Dunjonquest series started with
Temple of Apshai, and in the same year several mini-episodes using the same game system and world were released. The sequel
Hellfire Warrior and several full-sized add-on packs for both main games followed 1980–1982.
Wizardry was likewise appended with additional scenarios that allowed importing of the first games' save data. Following
Nihon Falcom's 1986
expansion pack Xanadu Scenario II for the 1985
action role-playing game Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu, the fifth
Dragon Slayer title
Sorcerian in 1987 introduced a scenario system where the player can play through fifteen scenarios in their
order of choice. Soon after, additional
expansion packs were released containing a number of new scenarios. The game introduced an aging system, where one or more years pass by and the characters age during each scenario, with the additional scenario packs in mind. That same year saw the beginning of the
Kroz series, a seven-part series of games featuring similar text-based graphics and gameplay, with renewed levels. These were not released on a regular schedule, but were sold in packages, with the first episode being available freely as
shareware. During 1993-1994, the Italian publisher Simulmondo published several games in bite-sized episodes, among them the comic book adaption
Diabolik (11 Episodes) and the original series
Time Runners (30 Episodes).
Adventure games
Shin Onigashima,
Yūyūki, and
Famicom Tantei Club series for the
Family Computer Disk System were released in two disks, with both disks being separate releases but forming a single game. Single-player games, particularly
real-time strategy games and
first-person shooters, have in the past experimented with a limited form of episodic gaming, by adding new stages, levels, weapons, enemies or missions with expansion packs. Early examples include
Wing Commander: Secret Ops, which was released episodically over the internet in 1998. However, this series was a failure and was discontinued after it failed to attract significant player numbers. One of the contributing factors was its 120 MB download size, which may have been prohibitively large in an age in which 56k internet access was the norm. Limitations in bandwidth have also been cited as one of the reasons for the failure of the episodic
alternate reality game Majestic, as it required an initial download of an hour or more on a dial-up connection. Another example of a more casual episodic game is
Goodnight Mister Snoozleberg!, an online game created by Sarbakan that was released in 1999 on TF1's website, later on CBC and now available for download on Trygames. ''El Dorado's Gate'' was a Japan-only episodic game released by Capcom in 2001.
Kuma Reality Games has developed first-person shooter episodic games since its inception in 2003. Some of the "game-isodes" that the company has developed include
The DinoHunters, which documents a group of off-key time travelers hunting dinosaurs and other prehistoric beasts, and the controversial
Kuma\War, which focuses on recent military action in the world, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan. Recently, Kuma Games produced a series mirroring ''The History Channel's Shootout!'' series. The games created were modeled on the battles featured in the TV show, adding another level of media depth to episodic gaming in general. From to , the world's first digital
satellite radio broadcaster,
St.GIGA, transmitted episodic video games with voice acted overdubs (a technique called
SoundLink), to be played in Japan on partner
Nintendo's
Super Famicom video game console with its
Satellaview peripheral. The first SoundLink title,
BS Zelda no Densetsu, was released in four discrete broadcast episodes starting in August 1995. Nintendo has said it to be the world's first integrated radio-game.
Shining Force III is a three-part RPG released by Sega for the Sega Saturn between 1997 and 1999. The narrative of the game was distributed through three distinct "scenarios", each showing a part of the complete story. Other games have contemplated going the route of episodic development and distribution, only to decide against it. Examples of this include
Quantic Dream's
Fahrenheit,
Ubisoft's
Rayman Origins, and a planned series of episodes starring
Duke Nukem by
ARUSH Entertainment.
Valve's
Steam platform is being used as a content delivery platform for several episodic games including
Half-Life 2 Episodes developed by Valve themselves.
Telltale Games is one of the heaviest supporters of episodic gaming thus far, as well as its successor,
AdHoc Studio, after its closure. Their game
Bone is an adventure title that literally adapts chapters from
Jeff Smith's
Bone comic book saga into game episodes on a periodic basis, with two episodes having been released. Telltale's
Sam & Max Save the World was their first fully completed episodic series, followed by
Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space and ''
Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse. Other series based on various other franchises include Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures, Tales of Monkey Island, Back to the Future: The Game and The Walking Dead''.
Minerva is a single-player modification that has adopted an episodic development structure. It is one of the first mods to do so for Valve's
Half-Life 2.
Turner Broadcasting's
GameTap has made large investments in episodic game development. The online game service's first episodic game,
Sam & Max, was co-published with
Telltale Games. Each episode premiered on GameTap 14 days before becoming available on the Telltale Games web site. GameTap's second foray into episodic games was monthly content deliveries for
Myst Online: Uru Live an online massive multiplayer game by
Cyan Worlds. In February, GameTap announced a third episodic game,
Galactic Command: Echo Squad, developed in conjunction with
3000AD. Their most recently announced game, the 24 episode ''
American McGee's Grimm'', was announced in May 2007 for an early 2008 launch. GameTap's VP of content, Ricardo Sanchez, has written for sites like
Gamasutra and
GameDaily and presented at the
D.I.C.E. Summit on the subject. His "Three Laws of Episodics" lay out rules by which GameTap determines whether a title is episodic or not, and rules out
Bone and
Half-Life 2 Episodes due to the unknown duration of time between episodes.
Dimps and
Sonic Team created the episodic video game,
Sonic the Hedgehog 4 for various formats, the
first episode of which was released in October 2010, with
Episode 2 released in May 2012. A third episode was planned, but was canceled.
Joey Drew Studios Inc. released Chapter 1 of the horror game ‘’
Bendy and the Ink Machine‘’ for free on
Game Jolt and
itch.io in February 2017. There were four additional paid chapters. Chapter 2 released on
Game Jolt itch.io and Steam (alongside Chapter 1 on Steam) in April 2017, Chapter 3 released in September 2017, Chapter 4 released in April 2018, and Chapter 5 was released as part of the complete edition in October 2018.
Glowstick Entertainment created their first horror game ‘’
Dark Deception‘’, releasing on Steam with Chapter 1 releasing in September 2018, Chapter 2 in January 2019, Chapter 3 in June 2019, Chapter 4 in September 2021, and Chapter 5 is scheduled to be released in 2026.
Mob Entertainment created their first horror game, ‘’
Poppy Playtime‘’ releasing on Steam with Chapter 1 in October 2021, Chapter 2 in May 2022, Chapter 3 in January 2024, Chapter 4 in January 2025, and Chapter 5 being released in February 2026. Telltale's episodic adventure games inspired Roy and Ronen Gluzman to revive their popular Israeli video game franchise
Piposh with
a four-part 2019 entry.
Deltarune is being released in an episodic format. The first two chapters of the game are available together as a
free demo and were released in 2018 and 2021 respectively. The third and fourth chapters released in a paid format in 2025. The game's menu implies there will be seven chapters, however
Toby Fox has only officially confirmed the first six. ==Massively multiplayer online gaming==