DirectPlay is a high-level software interface between applications and communication services that allows games to be connected over the Internet, a modem link, or a network.
Like the rest of DirectX, DirectPlay runs in COM and is accessed through component object model (COM) interfaces.
By default, DirectPlay uses multi-threaded programming techniques and requires careful thought to avoid the usual threading issues.
DirectPlay was supported in DirectX DLLs for the lifetime of Microsoft Windows XP.
[3] In Windows 10, DirectPlay is fully deprecated, and modern game development has transitioned to more current technologies like Xbox Live and other networking APIs.