The history of online games dates back to the early days of
packet-based computer networking in the 1970s, An early example of online games is
MUDs, including the first,
MUD1, which was created in 1978 and originally confined to an internal network before becoming connected to
ARPANet in 1980. Commercial games followed in the next decade, with
Islands of Kesmai, the first commercial online
role-playing game, debuting in 1984, the
flight simulator Air Warrior in 1987, and the
Family Computer Network System's online
Go game in 1987. The rapid availability of the Internet in the 1990s led to an expansion of online games, with notable titles including
Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds (1996),
Quakeworld (1996),
Ultima Online (1997),
Lineage (1998),
StarCraft (1998),
Counter-Strike (1999) and
EverQuest (1999).
Video game consoles also began to receive online networking features, such as the
Family Computer Network System (1987),
Sega Meganet (1990),
Satellaview (1995),
SegaNet (2000),
PlayStation 2 (2000) and
Xbox (2001). Following improvements in connection speeds, more recent developments include the popularization of new genres, such as
social games, and new platforms, such as
mobile games. Entering into the 2000s, the cost of technology, servers, and the Internet has dropped so far that fast Internet was commonplace, which led to previously unknown genres like
massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) becoming well known. For example,
World of Warcraft (2004) dominated much of the decade. Several other MMOs attempted to follow in
Warcrafts footsteps, such as
Star Wars Galaxies,
City of Heroes,
Wildstar,
Warhammer Online,
Guild Wars 2, and
Star Wars: The Old Republic, but failed to make a significant impact in
Warcrafts market share. Another term that was popularized by the video game community is the abbreviation "
AFK" to refer to people who are not at the computer or paying attention. Other common abbreviations include "GL HF" which stands for "good luck, have fun," which is often said at the beginning of a match to show good sportsmanship. Likewise, at the end of a game, "
GG" or "GG WP" may be said to congratulate the opponent, win or lose, on a "good game, well played". Separately, a new type of online game came to popularity alongside
World of Warcraft,
Defense of the Ancients (2003) which introduced the
multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) format.
DotA, a community-created
mod based on
Warcraft III, gained in popularity as interest in
World of Warcraft waned, but since the format was tied to the
Warcraft property, others began to develop their own MOBAs, including
Heroes of Newerth (2009),
League of Legends (2010), and
Dota 2 (2013).
Blizzard Entertainment, the owner of
Warcraft property, released their own take on the MOBA genre with
Heroes of the Storm (2015), emphasizing on numerous original heroes from
Warcraft III and other Blizzard's franchises. By the early 2010s, the genre had become a big part of the
esports category. During the last half of the 2010s,
hero shooter, a variation of shooter games inspired by multiplayer online battle arenas and older class-based shooters, had a substantial rise in popularity with the release of
Battleborn and
Overwatch in 2016
. The genre continued to grow with games such as
Paladins (2018) and
Valorant (2020). A
battle royale game format became widely popular with the release of ''
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (2017), Fortnite Battle Royale (2017), and Apex Legends (2019). The popularity of the genre continued in the 2020s with the release of the Call of Duty: Warzone'' (2020). Each game has received tens of millions of players within months of its releases. ==Demographics==