The whole idea of online gaming revolves around a computer network which could either be a local network or an international one such as the Internet. The growth of online gaming has grown along with the growth of computer networks, which started as local networks and later developed into the Internet. Online games could range from anything like a word game such as scrabble, to games which could be graphical and contain immense 3-D effects and accommodate many hundreds of players at the same time, from all over the globe. Online games are usually connected with online communities, thereby taking it a step further from a one-player game to a means of social networking.

The development and rising popularity of applications such as Flash and Java brought about the ability for websites to stream video & audio and bring more interactivity to the entire game. The first step in this revolution began when Microsoft made Flash a pre-installed add-on of Internet Explorer. This helped bring about the revolution of websites offering games to surfers. However, good stuff doesn't come free! Popular online games like World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XI and many others charge a monthly fee, whereas there are plenty of other free games too. Most sites which offer free games are dependent on advertising revenue from sponsors who put up banners or pop-up ads in their websites.

With the burst of the dot-com bubble in 2001, many sites which were funded by advertising revenue were shattered financially. Although profits were on the decline for such websites, some pages have recovered from the adversity by moving into other marketing methods such as using content to push visitors to other websites owned by the sponsor company.

The 1990s saw online games such as 'Doom' where many players could fight each other. By the late 1990s, most RTS games had options to connect to the Internet and play with other global players. Other services related to online game communities such as the MSN Gaming Zone were brought to the attention of the public, where communities were formed by keen players for games like Microsoft Age of Empires, and even Ants!

With the advancement of browsers, browser games developed, with the web browser being used as a client. Further, the development of Flash and Java allowed browser games to become more interactive and interesting. As broadband Internet access became more common, hundreds of thousands of players were able to come together to play the same game!

Summery: This article describes the evolution of online gaming, which has become a very popular social networking rave today, especially due to the advancement of the Internet, as well as additions of graphic software to websites.