Online gaming activities have proliferated with the expansion of Internet and the decreasing costs of Broadband Internet access around the world. Many online games are in the multi-player genre, leading to creation of large online gaming communities, making it a social phenomenon beyond the realm of basic single player video gaming.

Online gaming has gone through various phases of evolution, and at different periods of time there have been different modes of online gaming in vogue:

EARLIEST MODES OF ONLINE GAMING

When PC's started becoming popular in the 1980s, basic Multi-player Text-based Games (MUDs) began to be played upon Message Board Systems using a Modem. Some other games were set-up as "Play-by-Email" Games because uninterrupted Internet connectivity was usually very costly to access, and was charged on a per-minute basis.

FIRST-PERSON SHOOTER GAMES (FPS)

During the 1990s, the online gaming transitioned from LAN (Local Area Network) protocols to the Internet using the TCP/IP protocol. "Doom" became one of the first FPS games where many different players fought against each other in a fierce battle.

REAL-TIME STRATEGY GAMES (RTS)

By the 1990s, RTS games became highly popular due to the increasing Internet support around the world. Multiple players could play against each other from different locations, gaming communities and game rooms were formed, and people could meet in these virtual game rooms. MSN Gaming Zone was one of the most popular zones allowing gaming communities to come together online and play together.

CROSS-PLATFORM ONLINE PLAY

As the gaming console technology advances, the scope of online gaming is also advancing in the same proportion. From the Personal Computer (PC), online games moved on to these advanced consoles that performed sophisticated functions just like computers. Some online games were hosted on private servers that were compatible with multiple consoles. "Open Source Networking" enabled cross-platform online gaming between players using different consoles or PCs.

BROWSER BASED GAMES

As the web browsers started becoming more advanced, particularly with the onset of graphics-based technologies such as Flash and Java, it led to a spurt in the popularity of browser games. Though browser based games till today are mostly single-player online games, with very limited multi-player usage.

MULTI-PLAYER ONLINE GAMES

Multi-player Online Games and Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) caught the fancy of the gamers once the Broadband Internet access increased, and the cost of usage reduced. Broadband paved the way for hundreds of thousands of users to play the same game at the same time.

BROWSER BASED MMORPGs

In recent years, further advancements in browser technologies have led to the popularity of browser-based MMORPGs. Being browser-based, these games have their technological limitations, but they are comparatively less costly. Community-oriented MMORPGs are becoming quite popular on browser-based platforms.

SUMMARY:

The evolution of online gaming has led to the creation of various modes of Online Gaming. These variety of modes are able to fulfill the needs and requirements of different players across the world, leading to almost universal acceptability of online gaming.