Browser game

Among other browser extensions, these new plug-ins allowed users to run applets made in the Java language and interactive animations created in Macromedia Flash.

These technologies were initially intended to provide web page developers tools to create fully immersive, interactive websites, though this use fell out of favor as it was considered elitism and broke expected browsing behavior.

Instead, these technologies found use by programmers to create small browser games among other unexpected uses such as general animation tools.

[13][14] Sites began to emerge in the late 1990s to collect these browser games and other works, such as Sun Microsystems' HotJava.

[16] ClassicGames.com was created in 1997 to host a selection of classic, Java-based online multiplayer games such as chess and checkers; its popularity led Yahoo!

In 2017, Julie Muncy writing for Wired said, "Flash games lent themselves to the exaggerated and cartoonish, a style that eventually evolved into an affection-at least amongst its best creators-for beautiful grotesquerie.

[21] There are a few other controversies involving browser games and real-world events, such as the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting reenactment V-Tech Rampage,[22] and NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre targeting the game Kindergarten Killers after the 2012 Sandy Hook shootings.

[23] Expansion of broadband connectivity in the early 2000s drew more people to play browser games through these sites, as well as added attention as viral phenomenon.

First was the introduction of mobile gaming, primarily with Apple's iPhone release in 2007 and the availability of the App Store.

Through the App Store, anyone could release apps for the iPhone, and with the addition of in-app purchases, new revenue models such as free-to-play quickly emerged for mobile games, well surpassing the current ad-driven revenue model of browser games.

About a year after Jobs' letter, Adobe announced it would start deprecating Flash and transition users to HTML5 and other open standards in its other products.

[30] Adobe completely shut down Flash by January 12, 2021 after giving web developers a few years to prepare for this event.

Because of the money involved, the industry took few risks in these major titles, and experimental games were generally overlooked.

[26] Other indie developers got their start in browser and Flash games, including Vlambeer, Bennett Foddy, and Maddy Thorson.

[34] Subsequently, these game developers have found ways to monetize their work by creating versions for mobile devices or other platforms which they can sell.

The term ".io" comes from the .io domain, which was originally assigned to the British Indian Ocean Territory[37] but became popular for game developers due to its short and memorable nature.

[44] The game was created in 2016 by Steven Howse, a self-taught independent developer who was inspired to make it after playing Agar.io.