Video game of multiple players
"Multiplayer" redirects here. For other multiplayer games, see Game § Multiplayer
A multiplayer video game is a 0️⃣ video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either 0️⃣ locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or via a 0️⃣ wide area network, most commonly the Internet (e.g. World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, DayZ). Multiplayer games usually require players 0️⃣ to share a single game system or use networking technology to play together over a greater distance; players may compete 0️⃣ against one or more human contestants, work cooperatively with a human partner to achieve a common goal, or supervise other 0️⃣ players' activity. Due to multiplayer games allowing players to interact with other individuals, they provide an element of social communication 0️⃣ absent from single-player games.
History [ edit ]
Some of the earliest video games were two-player games, including early sports games (such 0️⃣ as 1958's Tennis For Two and 1972's Pong), early shooter games such as Spacewar! (1962)[1] and early racing video games 0️⃣ such as Astro Race (1973).[2] The first examples of multiplayer real-time games were developed on the PLATO system about 1973. 0️⃣ Multi-user games developed on this system included 1973's Empire and 1974's Spasim; the latter was an early first-person shooter. Other 0️⃣ early video games included turn-based multiplayer modes, popular in tabletop arcade machines. In such games, play is alternated at some 0️⃣ point (often after the loss of a life). All players' scores are often displayed onscreen so players can see their 0️⃣ relative standing. Danielle Bunten Berry created some of the first multiplayer video games, such as her debut, Wheeler Dealers (1978) 0️⃣ and her most notable work, M.U.L.E. (1983).
Gauntlet (1985) and Quartet (1986) introduced co-operative 4-player gaming to the arcades. The games 0️⃣ had broader consoles to allow for four sets of controls.
Networked [ edit ]
Ken Wasserman and Tim Stryker identified three factors 0️⃣ which make networked computer games appealing:[3]
Multiple humans competing with each other instead of a computer Incomplete information resulting in suspense 0️⃣ and risk-taking Real-time play requiring quick reaction
John G. Kemeny wrote in 1972 that software running on the Dartmouth Time Sharing 0️⃣ System (DTSS) had recently gained the ability to support multiple simultaneous users, and that games were the first use of 0️⃣ the functionality. DTSS's popular American football game, he said, now supported head-to-head play by two humans.[4]
The first large-scale serial sessions 0️⃣ using a single computer[citation needed] were STAR (based on Star Trek), OCEAN (a battle using ships, submarines and helicopters, with 0️⃣ players divided between two combating cities) and 1975's CAVE (based on Dungeons & Dragons), created by Christopher Caldwell (with artwork 0️⃣ and suggestions by Roger Long and assembly coding by Robert Kenney) on the University of New Hampshire's DECsystem-1090. The university's 0️⃣ computer system had hundreds of terminals, connected (via serial lines) through cluster PDP-11s for student, teacher, and staff access. The 0️⃣ games had a program running on each terminal (for each player), sharing a segment of shared memory (known as the 0️⃣ "high segment" in the OS TOPS-10). The games became popular, and the university often banned them because of their RAM 0️⃣ use. STAR was based on 1974's single-user, turn-oriented BASIC program STAR, written by Michael O'Shaughnessy at UNH.
Wasserman and Stryker in 0️⃣ 1980 described in BYTE how to network two Commodore PET computers with a cable. Their article includes a type-in, two-player 0️⃣ Hangman, and describes the authors' more-sophisticated Flash Attack.[3] Digital Equipment Corporation distributed another multi-user version of Star Trek, Decwar, without 0️⃣ real-time screen updating; it was widely distributed to universities with DECsystem-10s. In 1981 Cliff Zimmerman wrote an homage to Star 0️⃣ Trek in MACRO-10 for DECsystem-10s and -20s using VT100-series graphics. "VTtrek" pitted four Federation players against four Klingons in a 0️⃣ three-dimensional universe.
Flight Simulator II, released in 1986 for the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga, allowed two players to connect via 0️⃣ modem or serial cable and fly together in a shared environment.
MIDI Maze, an early first-person shooter released in 1987 for 0️⃣ the Atari ST, featured network multiplay through a MIDI interface before Ethernet and Internet play became common. It is considered[by 0️⃣ whom?] the first multiplayer 3D shooter on a mainstream system, and the first network multiplayer action-game (with support for up 0️⃣ to 16 players). There followed ports to a number of platforms (including Game Boy and Super NES) in 1991 under 0️⃣ the title Faceball 2000, making it one of the first handheld, multi-platform first-person shooters and an early console example of 0️⃣ the genre.[5]
Networked multiplayer gaming modes are known as "netplay". The first popular video-game title with a Local Area Network(LAN) version, 0️⃣ 1991's Spectre for the Apple Macintosh, featured AppleTalk support for up to eight players. Spectre's popularity was partially attributed[by whom?] 0️⃣ to the display of a player's name above their cybertank. There followed 1993's Doom, whose first network version allowed four 0️⃣ simultaneous players.[6]
Play-by-email multiplayer games use email to communicate between computers. Other turn-based variations not requiring players to be online simultaneously 0️⃣ are Play-by-post gaming and Play-by-Internet. Some online games are "massively multiplayer", with many players participating simultaneously. Two massively multiplayer genres 0️⃣ are MMORPG (such as World of Warcraft or EverQuest) and MMORTS.
First-person shooters have become popular multiplayer games; Battlefield 1942 and 0️⃣ Counter-Strike have little (or no) single-player gameplay. Developer and gaming site OMGPOP's library included multiplayer Flash games for the casual 0️⃣ player until it was shut down in 2013. Some networked multiplayer games, including MUDs and massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) 0️⃣ such as RuneScape, omit a single-player mode. The largest MMO in 2008 was World of Warcraft, with over 10 million 0️⃣ registered players worldwide. World of Warcraft would hit its peak at 12 million players two years later in 2010, and 0️⃣ in 2024 earned the Guinness World Record for best selling MMO video game.[7] This category of games requires multiple machines 0️⃣ to connect via the Internet; before the Internet became popular, MUDs were played on time-sharing computer systems and games like 0️⃣ Doom were played on a LAN.
Beginning with the Sega NetLink in 1996, Game in 1997 and Dreamcast in 2000, game 0️⃣ consoles support network gaming over LANs and the Internet. Many mobile phones and handheld consoles also offer wireless gaming with 0️⃣ Bluetooth (or similar) technology. By the early 2010s online gaming had become a mainstay of console platforms such as Xbox 0️⃣ and PlayStation.[citation needed] During the 2010s, as the number of Internet users increased, two new video game genres rapidly gained 0️⃣ worldwide popularity – multiplayer online battle arena and battle royale game, both designed exclusively for multiplayer gameplay over the Internet.
Over 0️⃣ time the number of people playing video games has increased. In 2024, the majority of households in the United States 0️⃣ have an occupant that plays video games, and 65% of gamers play multiplayer games with others either online or in 0️⃣ person.[8]
Local multiplayer [ edit ]
A LAN party
For some games, "multiplayer" implies that players are playing on the same gaming system 0️⃣ or network. This applies to all arcade games, but also to a number of console, and personal computer games too. 0️⃣ Local multiplayer games played on a singular system sometimes use split screen, so each player has an individual view of 0️⃣ the action (important in first-person shooters and in racing video games) Nearly all multiplayer modes on beat 'em up games 0️⃣ have a single-system option, but racing games have started to abandon split-screen in favor of a multiple-system, multiplayer mode. Turn-based 0️⃣ games such as chess also lend themselves to single system single screen and even to a single controller.
Multiple types of 0️⃣ games allow players to use local multiplayer. The term "local co-op" or "couch co-op" refers to local multiplayer games played 0️⃣ in a cooperative manner on the same system; these may use split-screen or some other display method. Another option is 0️⃣ hot-seat games. Hot-seat games are typically turn-based games with only one controller or input set – such as a single 0️⃣ keyboard/mouse on the system. Players rotate using the input device to perform their turn such that each is taking a 0️⃣ turn on the "hot-seat".
Not all local multiplayer games are played on the same console or personal computer. Some local multiplayer 0️⃣ games are played over a LAN. This involves multiple devices using one local network to play together. Networked multiplayer games 0️⃣ on LAN eliminate common problems faced when playing online such as lag and anonymity. Games played on a LAN network 0️⃣ are the focus of LAN parties. While local co-op and LAN parties still take place, there has been a decrease 0️⃣ in both due to an increasing number of players and games utilizing online multiplayer gaming.[9]
Online multiplayer [ edit ]
Online multiplayer 0️⃣ games connect players over a wide area network (a common example being the Internet). Unlike local multiplayer, players playing online 0️⃣ multiplayer are not restricted to the same local network. This allows players to interact with others from a much greater 0️⃣ distance.
Playing multiplayer online offers the benefits of distance, but it also comes with its own unique challenges. Gamers refer to 0️⃣ latency using the term "ping", after a utility which measures round-trip network communication delays (by the use of ICMP packets). 0️⃣ A player on a DSL connection with a 50-ms ping can react faster than a modem user with a 350-ms 0️⃣ average latency. Other problems include packet loss and choke, which can prevent a player from "registering" their actions with a 0️⃣ server. In first-person shooters, this problem appears when bullets hit the enemy without damage. The player's connection is not the 0️⃣ only factor; some servers are slower than others.
Asymmetrical gameplay [ edit ]
Asymmetrical multiplayer is a type of gameplay in which 0️⃣ players can have significantly different roles or abilities from each other – enough to provide a significantly different experience of 0️⃣ the game.[10] In games with light asymmetry, the players share some of the same basic mechanics (such as movement and 0️⃣ death), yet have different roles in the game; this is a common feature of the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) 0️⃣ genre such as League of Legends and Dota 2, and in hero shooters such as Overwatch and Apex Legends. In 0️⃣ games with stronger elements of asymmetry, one player/team may have one gameplay experience (or be in softly asymmetric roles) while 0️⃣ the other player or team play in a drastically different way, with different mechanics, a different type of objective, or 0️⃣ both. Examples of games with strong asymmetry include Dead by Daylight, Evolve, and Left 4 Dead.[10]
Asynchronous multiplayer [ edit ]
Asynchronous 0️⃣ multiplayer is a form of multiplayer gameplay where players do not have to be playing at the same time.[11] This 0️⃣ form of multiplayer game has its origins in play-by-mail games, where players would send their moves through postal mail to 0️⃣ a game master, who then would compile and send out results for the next turn. Play-by-mail games transitioned to electronic 0️⃣ form as play-by-email games.[12] Similar games were developed for bulletin board systems, such as Trade Wars, where the turn structure 0️⃣ may not be as rigorous and allow players to take actions at any time in a persistence space alongside all 0️⃣ other players, a concept known as sporadic play.[13]
These types of asynchronous multiplayer games waned with the widespread availability of the 0️⃣ Internet which allowed players to play against each other simultaneously, but remains an option in many strategy-related games, such as 0️⃣ the Civilization series. Coordination of turns are subsequently managed by one computer or a centralized server. Further, many mobile games 0️⃣ are based on sporadic play and use social interactions with other players, lacking direct player versus player game modes but 0️⃣ allowing players to influence other players' games, coordinated through central game servers, another facet of asynchronous play.[13]
Online cheating [ edit 0️⃣ ]
Online cheating (in gaming) usually refers to modifying the game experience to give one player an advantage over others, such 0️⃣ as using an "aimbot" – a program which automatically locks the player's crosshairs onto a target – in shooting games.[14][15][16] 0️⃣ This is also known as "hacking" or "glitching" ("glitching" refers to using a glitch, or a mistake in the code 0️⃣ of a game, whereas "hacking" is manipulating the code of a game). Cheating in video games is often done via 0️⃣ a third-party program that modifies the game's code at runtime to give one or more players an advantage. In other 0️⃣ situations, it is frequently done by changing the game's files to change the game's mechanics.[17]
See also [ edit ]
