Game demo

In the early 1990s, shareware distribution was a popular method for publishing games for smaller developers, including then-fledgling companies such as Apogee Software (now 3D Realms), Epic MegaGames (now Epic Games), and id Software.

Since the shareware versions were essentially free, the cost only needed to cover the disk and minimal packaging.

Shareware was also the distribution method of choice of early modern first-person shooters (FPS).

Demos are also sometimes released on cover tape/disks, especially in the United Kingdom and mainland Europe, but given the increasing size of demos and widespread availability of broadband Internet, this common practice throughout the 1980s and 1990s gradually lost cover focus to full games.

With the advent of online services for consoles, demos are also becoming available as a free or premium download.

Now, the Internet is the main source for demos, as nearly all game developers and platforms focus on online distribution.