Tennis for Two: a game on an oscilloscope
Physicist William Higinbotham builds one of the first interactive computer games ever, played on an oscilloscope screen during an open day at a research lab.
Spacewar! conquers the university campus
Students at MIT program Spacewar!, one of the first computer games designed for digital computers, and distribute it via the early networks of research institutions.
Pong and the birth of the arcade industry
Atari releases Pong, a simple table tennis game that grows into a commercial success and lays the foundation for the arcade and home console industry.
Space Invaders causes an arcade craze in Japan
Tomohiro Nishikado develops Space Invaders for Taito, a game that becomes so popular in Japan that it temporarily causes a shortage of coins.
Activision wordt opgericht
Four disgruntled Atari programmers found Activision, the first independent video game developer.
Pac-Man conquers the world
Namco releases the arcade classic Pac-Man in Japan, which grows into a worldwide cultural phenomenon.
Donkey Kong introduceert Mario
Nintendo launches Donkey Kong, an arcade game by designer Shigeru Miyamoto in which the character Mario (then still called 'Jumpman') appears for the first time.
the great video game crash of 1983
A saturated market, an abundance of poor games, and competition from home computers lead to a dramatic collapse of the North American games industry.
Nintendo saves and redefines the industry
Nintendo releases the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Mario Bros. in North America, restoring confidence in home consoles after the crash.
Tetris causes a worldwide puzzle fever
Soviet programmer Alexey Pajitnov develops Tetris, which reaches the Western market through complicated licensing deals and becomes an unprecedented success.
Sega challenges Nintendo with the Mega Drive
Sega launches the Mega Drive (Genesis) with the slogan 'Genesis does what Nintendon't' and kicks off the first major console war.
Street Fighter II revolutionizes the fighting game genre
Capcom releases Street Fighter II in Japanese arcades, with combos, character variety, and competitive two-player gameplay that redefine the genre.
Doom and the rise of the first-person shooter
id Software releases Doom, a groundbreaking 3D shooter that not only popularises a new genre but also introduces early forms of online multiplayer and modding.
StarCraft and the birth of professional esports in South Korea
Blizzard's strategy game StarCraft grows into a national sensation in South Korea, with television channels, sponsors and professional players laying the foundation for the modern esports industry.
Counter-Strike conquers the LAN cafés
The free Half-Life mod Counter-Strike grows into a worldwide phenomenon in competitive multiplayer gaming.
Final Fantasy XI brings the MMORPG to Japan and the world
With Final Fantasy XI, Square opens the door to massively multiplayer role-playing games outside the Western market.
Grand Theft Auto III redefines the open world
Rockstar Games launches a three-dimensional open world that gives players unprecedented freedom and transforms the action genre.
EVE Online launches a ruthless capitalist universe
The Icelandic developer CCP Games releases EVE Online, a science fiction MMO with a single central server in which players build a fully player-driven economy and politics.
Steam changes the way PC games are sold
Valve launches the digital distribution platform Steam, initially intended mainly to distribute updates for its own games, but it grows into the dominant store for PC games.
World of Warcraft and the era of the massively multiplayer world
Blizzard Entertainment launches World of Warcraft, which grows into the dominant MMO in the world with millions of concurrent subscribers.
Xbox 360 ushers in the era of high-definition gaming
Microsoft releases the Xbox 360, the first console generation to fully commit to high-definition graphics and online connectivity via Xbox Live.
Nintendo Wii makes gaming accessible with motion controls
Nintendo launches the Wii, a console that focuses on intuitive motion control rather than raw processing power, reaching a completely new audience.
South Korea's esports culture reaches its peak with professional StarCraft competitions
In South Korea, competitive gaming, particularly around StarCraft: Brood War, grows into a full-fledged national sport with television channels, sponsors and star players.
The iPhone ushers in the era of mobile gaming
With the launch of the iPhone and later the App Store, an entirely new market emerges for accessible, low-threshold games.
GREE and Mobage fuel the Japanese mobile gaming boom
In Japan, social mobile platforms such as GREE and Mobage (DeNA) grow explosively, with simple browser games reaching millions of users via feature phones and smartphones.
StarCraft II and the flourishing of South Korea's esports culture
The release of StarCraft II confirms South Korea's status as the epicenter of professional gaming, with sold-out stadiums and television channels dedicated to esports.
Minecraft brings the power of indie games and user creativity into the mainstream
Swedish developer Markus 'Notch' Persson releases Minecraft in full, a blocky building and survival game that becomes a worldwide phenomenon.
Candy Crush Saga conquers smartphones worldwide
British company King launches Candy Crush Saga, which grows into a global hit via Facebook and smartphones and definitively brings the free-to-play model into the mainstream.
Sony and Microsoft usher in a new console generation
With the launch of the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, a new chapter begins in the console war, focused on more powerful hardware, social features and digital distribution.
Flappy Bird surprises the world from Vietnam
Vietnamese developer Dong Nguyen releases the simple but fiendishly addictive Flappy Bird, which reaches millions of downloads within a few months and causes a worldwide stir.
League of Legends World Championship trekt wereldwijd miljoenen kijkers
The League of Legends World Championship final in Seoul marks the moment esports definitively breaks through as a global mass spectacle, with sold-out stadiums and billions of euros in industry revenue.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is released
The Polish studio CD Projekt Red releases The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, an open-world role-playing game that receives worldwide acclaim.
AlphaGo defeats Lee Sedol
Google DeepMind's artificial intelligence AlphaGo wins a historic game of Go against world champion Lee Sedol in Seoul.
Pokémon GO conquers the world
Niantic launches Pokémon GO, a mobile augmented reality game that sends millions of people worldwide out onto the streets.
Fortnite Battle Royale becomes a global sensation
Epic Games launches the free Battle Royale mode of Fortnite, which attracts tens of millions of players within a few months.
PUBG Mobile conquers Asia
Tencent releases PUBG Mobile, making the popular battle royale game accessible to smartphone users in Asia and beyond.
Genshin Impact breaks through into the Western market from China
The Chinese studio miHoYo launches Genshin Impact, a free anime-inspired action role-playing game that generates billions of dollars in revenue worldwide.
PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S launched
Sony and Microsoft release their new generation of consoles, with lightning-fast SSDs and ray tracing as key features.
Valheim surprises the world from Sweden
The small Swedish studio Iron Gate launches the Viking survival game Valheim, which attracts tens of millions of players within weeks.
Roblox gaat naar de beurs
The gaming platform Roblox, popular among a young generation of creators and players, debuts on the New York Stock Exchange.
Black Myth: Wukong puts China on the AAA map
The Chinese studio Game Science launches Black Myth: Wukong, based on the classic 'Journey to the West', as the first major Chinese AAA action game.
Astro Bot wins Game of the Year
At The Game Awards 2024, the Japanese platform game Astro Bot is named Game of the Year, a tribute to classic fun in times of increasingly heavy AAA productions.
Nintendo unveils the Switch 2
Nintendo officially announces the successor to the Switch, with improved graphics and backward compatibility, setting a new hardware generation in motion.
Grand Theft Auto VI is postponed to 2026
Rockstar Games announces that the long-awaited release of Grand Theft Auto VI, originally planned for 2025, is being pushed back to 2026 due to the complexity of the project.
Spacewar! conquers the university campus
Steve Russell and his fellow students used the brand-new PDP-1 minicomputer to have two spaceships battle each other in the gravity of a star. The game spread rapidly among programmers at other universities, who copied and modified the code. Spacewar! is regarded as the first influential computer game and laid the foundation for a culture of sharing and experimentation that characterised early gaming history.