LAN party
Private LAN parties were at their peak in popularity during the late 1990s to early 2000s when broadband internet access was either unavailable or too expensive for most people at the time.
Since the wide availability of high-speed internet, friends can more easily remotely play their multiplayer games together, using gaming-orientated software such as TeamSpeak, Discord and Steam.
Developers have given consumers the choice to enjoy the same multiplayer games on multiple platforms, paving way for an alternative stage in 21st-century LAN parties.
[citation needed] Many commercialized parties offer various tournaments, with competitions in such games as StarCraft, Warcraft III, World of Warcraft, Counter-Strike: Source, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Unreal Tournament, Fortnite, Kirby Air Ride, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Garry's Mod, and games from the Quake, Left 4 Dead, Call of Duty, Battlefield, Doom and Halo series.
Big LAN parties often offer a quiet place to sleep, shower, and eat, as well as hired security, alternative entertainment (such as music), and a dedicated support crew, as well as a professionally managed network including a connection to the Internet.
As well as counting for standings in national and international gaming leagues such as the CPL there are regular events such as QuakeCon in which the very best players from around the world compete against one another, much like in popular sports.
Some LAN parties actively support file sharing for legitimate purposes (game patches, updates, user-contributed content), and may run Direct Connect hubs or other P2P service servers.
In the traditionally active demoscene countries, such as those in Northern Europe, the LAN party culture is often heavily influenced by demoparties.
This eventually led to gaming clans and other similar groups to attend these events and regard them merely as large LAN parties.
On the other hand, it is not uncommon for "pure" LAN parties in Northern Europe to organize some demoscene-like competitions in areas such as computer graphics or home videos.
Many computer companies, including NVIDIA,[3] Cooler Master,[4] Cyber Snipa, Antec,[5] Corsair,[6] Alienware,[7] SteelSeries,[8] Tesoro,[9] and Thermaltake,[10] offer sponsorship packages to large LAN parties, with funding, prizes, or equipment given in return for advertising.
Enthusiasts often show off computers with extravagant aftermarket cooling systems, LED lighting effects, multi-display setups, and custom-built cases, and many other enhancements.
