If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
Free online games have been around longer than most of you reading this article. As soon as the concept of gaming was introduced, there were people trying to play the games for free. Whether that be searching for coins underneath the machines in the arcade or begging mum and dad for a few cents to load up the next intense and sweaty session of PacMan, games have always been about accessibility. Everyone has a right to play games. To enjoy the incredible thrill of finally beating an impossible level, of destroying their opponents in one of the new fun .io games, and basically being able to enjoy everything gaming has to offer without dropping hundreds of dollars on a PC or console.
The industry has had its ups and downs. From the early days of Flash over a decade ago to the more recent .io revolution, the world of free online games has constantly been evolving. To keep up with the mobile industry, browser games have had to adapt, and now many are released alongside native mobile apps. To adjust with the times, games websites have had to deal with Ad-blockers that have had a detrimental effect on many websites main source of income. Beyond that, the very face of the industry is changing, with Google planning to phase out its Flash support and thus ending the life of many classic games.
And it really is reliant on agar.io and slither.io, mostly. These were the first browser games that really took off across social media and went viral on YouTube. Certain YouTubers have made enough money off their niche agar.io videos to easily support them and their families for the next several generations. People went absolutely mad for these games - some of the YouTube videos have over 10,000,000 views. For a free game. On the internet.
A game in which summarises everything beautiful about the genre, mind. Agar.io captured the hearts and imagination of people everywhere because it was simple, compelling and easy to play...hard to master. Such a low intensive game, which at its peak had servers across every corner of the earth, meant that pretty much anyone on the planet could play. Regions were server-locked, generally, but it still meant that there was a level of mass cross-cultural communication happening through the form of an online game. Incredible, really, especially when you consider that agar.io even made it into politics, and the news, and even the hit show House of Cards.
However, there are a few downsides. 2018 has been a wild year for game releases. The new Red Dead Redemption game is going to pull in millions of consistent players. Brand new Blacks Ops 4 Blackout Battle Royale mode is bound to pull in millions of players and even more viewers of streams.