Matchmaking (video games)

Playlists are automatically managed streams of online play sessions that players can join and leave at will.

[2] The concept is particularly well suited to playlists, which can automatically handle the logistics of finding or creating play sessions with enough room for the whole group.

Lobbies are menu screens where players can inspect the upcoming game session, examine the results of the last, change their settings, and talk to each other.

As lobbies consume very few resources they are sometimes additionally used as a "holding pen" for players while a suitable host for the coming session is found.

Each player's status (offline, online, playing) is shown, the option to join a session in progress is given, and generally it is possible to send chat messages.

In 1996, this process became automated with the first server browsers: one integrated into Diablo via Battle.net, the other a desktop application for Quake players called QSpy (which became GameSpy Arcade).

Server browsers made online gaming easy for the first time and its popularity grew rapidly as a result.

The clan culture needed to support dedicated servers had not made the leap to consoles, and expecting players to self-host had proved limiting.

Halo 2 resolved the issue by automating the self-hosting process with the twin concepts of playlists and parties,[1] a system which proved so successful that it quickly became the second industry standard for matchmaking.