History of games development: from Pacman to WOW

The video game industry has gone a long way in its development, reaching the same level as cinema and music over the past 40+ years. In 2019 alone, companies earned more than $150 billion (link to the source). Interactive entertainment has firmly established itself in our lives, and it is hard to imagine the modern world without it. Games have gone through several rounds of evolution, each of which is interesting and unique in its own way.

The first digital computer game, although quite different from the ones we are used to, was Spacewar! It was developed in 1961 for the PDP-1 minicomputer. The first digital computer game, although quite different from the ones we are used to, was Spacewar! It was developed in 1961 for the PDP-1 minicomputer. A small creative team of 6 people created a game that two people could play at the same time. Everyone had their own ship, the needle, and the wedge, as well as a limited supply of fuel and ammunition. The main goal of the game was to destroy the enemy while avoiding a collision with the star.

The simulation of the game universe was based on Newtonian physics – if there was no action by the player, the ships moved by inertia. There was also a function of the so-called «hyperjump» – a transition to a random place on the screen, however, it increased the probability of ship destruction. In general, at that time, the game had very interesting gameplay.

«Spacewar!», the first digital computer game

1970s

The beginning of the decade is known for the launch of such game franchises as Star Trek. Back then, it was a text-based turn-based simulator where the player became the commander of a starship called Enterprise. With limited fuel and ammunition, you need to move around the galaxy (an 8x8 grid) and destroy enemy ships, preventing them from destroying yours. 

Star Trek has gained great popularity and has become the basis for a huge number of different versions of the game, television series, and programs. Star Trek has been considered a cult movie for decades.

Text game «Star Trek»

The mid-70s was the beginning of such a famous game universe as Dungeons & Dragons. Such games as «Telengard» and «Zork» were released based on it. They turned the idea of this industry upside down and caused great interest from the public. Computers stopped being an object for a narrow circle of people. Since 1977, various developers have been releasing more and more new computer games, considerably increasing the development of personal computers. The creators of Zork, led by Tim Anderson and Bruce Daniels, founded the Infocom company. Later, this company will grow into Activision.

«Zork»

1980s

In the early 80s, computers became much cheaper, so the distribution of the first home personal computers and gaming devices was fast. The first color game, PacMan, was released. The game pioneered a whole new genre of arcade games characterized by movement and speed. To this day, this is the most famous character in video games and the one that has become synonymous with them. The world-famous Tetris game, developed in the Soviet Union, was introduced. The legendary game Super Mario Bros. was released for the NES console, also known as the Dendy.

Soon, its main character began to personify the Nintendo company. This company also introduced The Legend of Zelda game with an adventure storyline. It was a brand-new genre. For the first time, the game introduced concepts such as «search for secrets», «change of weapons», «game store», «neutral character», «saving» and «game map».

«PacMan»

1990s

A truly symbolic decade. The main achievement is the transition from raster graphics to three-dimensional graphics. The popularity of arcade games declined, while new genres appeared: first-person shooters, real-time strategy, and MMOs. The Internet and its rapid spread created new opportunities for the gaming industry. This period brought many legendary games.

Sonic the Hedgehog. The game was created for the Sega Mega Drive console in 1991. It gained enormous popularity, and its main character, the blue hedgehog Sonic, became a symbol of Sega and remains to this day.

The character has to go through several levels, destroying enemies and collecting gold rings on the way.

«Sonic the Hedgehog»

Civilization. One of the most famous turn-based strategies. The player makes key decisions in the development of civilization over the entire historical period. It features tile and generated maps, cities with buildings, combat units, diplomacy, and a technology tree. This game paved the way for the development of turn-based strategies and games for decades to come.

«Civilization»

Wolfenstein 3D. In 1991, an employee of id Software, John Carmack, created the first three-dimensional shooter in the 3D-Action genre. The author managed to achieve the effect of a flat image on the screen being perceived as a three-dimensional one by resorting to calculations based on special mathematical formulas. The player could shoot, move forward, and turn right or left.

«Wolfenstein 3D»

Mortal Kombat. The first part of the legendary game series was released in 1992. The game became popular due to its cruelty, a new type of animation (instead of sprites, video animations were used, taken from real people), and bloody methods of killing the enemy - «Fatality». The early games of this series were especially known for their realistic sprites made from digitized movements of live actors, as well as the frequent use of palette changes to create new characters.

«Mortal Kombat»

Need for Speed. The development of the industry was very rapid, and in 1994, the iconic series of arcade car simulators was released. The game was created by EA Canada and Pioneer Productions. At that time, it could already boast of having: 8 cars, and 3 tracks, which were divided into three segments: «City», «Coastal», and «Alpine». The choice of game modes was small, with only Time Trial and Head to Head. Already in the Head to Head mode, there were police officers who could catch the player and car traffic that prevented the player from reaching the finish line without accidents. The game was very warmly received and it led to the release of the second part of this series in 1997.

«Need for Speed»

Diablo. The end of 1996 was remembered for the release of the game that became the pioneer of the «diabloids» subgenre. It had a procedural level generation, excellent graphics, and high replayability at that time. Players were impressed by the exciting gameplay, decent graphics, and variety of content. With multiplayer, fans could organize duels, trade, and play through the game together. However, more than a hundred spells, characters, and items were cut before the release, although some of them later returned in the sequels. The Game Informer ranked the game at 20th place in the list of the «100 Best Role Playing Games of All Time».

«Diablo»

Starcraft. The game was released in 1998 and immediately won the hearts of millions of people around the world. It also became one of the most popular eSports disciplines and made a huge contribution to the development of competitions. It is a game that has shaped the RTS genre for years to come. Six months later, an add-on called Brood War was released. In the same year, the game became the best-selling game of the year, and already by 2009, 11 million copies of the game had been sold.

«Starcraft»

2000s

The early 2000s were very successful for shooters. Games such as: «Unreal Tournament» 2004 by Epic Games, «Far Cry» by Crytek, «Doom 3» by id Software, and «Half-Life 2» by Valve. Not to forget the release of «Counter-Strike 1.6» in 2003, which was originally a modification of «Half-Life».

At this time, not only the 3D shooter genre thrived, but also the landmark game World of Warcraft was released for MMOs. It captivated the hearts of millions of people around the world and in 2008, the Guinness Book of Records named it the most popular MMORPG in the world with more than 10 million subscribers. By 2010, the number of active users had reached 12 million. The game became popular because of the Warcraft strategy plot and social component. Many people found friends, family, and comrades in the game. The game has regular add-on releases that introduce new game mechanics and large layers of the plot.

«World of Warcraft»

Today, the gaming industry is very advanced and there are more than 2 billion gamers in the world. The total revenue is over 150 billion dollars. Still, what will happen next?

Cloud gaming. Nowadays, cloud gaming services are gaining popularity: Google Stadia, Geforce Now, PlayStation Now, and others. They allow users to play games on any PC or mobile device, wherever and whenever they want, as long as they have a stable fast Internet connection. The only drawback is the delay between pressing a button on the gamepad and the character's reaction to it.

More content in games. Strong competition is a guarantee of content growth and quality. More and more global companies enter the gaming industry and they have to surprise players. Game content developers face the difficult task of creating an original and unique solution that will be interesting for different categories of users.

Casual games. Games are getting easier to reach a new young audience. However, this does not mean that there will be no hardcore (complex) games, rather, the genre will become niche. Intuitive interface, simple rules, and minimal time spent on learning, which do not require much perseverance, attract a wide range of users.

Esports. Esports disciplines are growing, and tournaments are attracting more and more people. The prize pools of many major tournaments exceed millions of dollars. Every year, their popularity is only increasing, more money is being invested, and, as a result, there will be further growth in the number and quality of esports disciplines.