From Atari to Augmented Reality: A Video Game Development Journey (1950–2023)

Red Apple Technologies
3 min readSep 21, 2023

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from 1950 to 2023 the story of gaming industry
Photo by Alexey Savchenko on Unsplash

The video game development industry is currently serving enterprises with multiple opportunities to achieve growth and success. Presently, the global market value of this demanding segment is over $300 billion.

So, to establish your presence, seeking help from a game development company will be quite helpful.

However, it will be very interesting to know about the journey of this creative industry from the very beginning, i.e., before the advancement of modern technologies, to the recent times.

So! Let’s delve into this long journey chronologically:

Video Game Development Archive- From Past to Present

1950–1960

Although planning to build video games started in 1949, it was in 1952 that the first video game, OXO, was launched by A.S. Douglas. This video game was primarily developed on the concept of the traditional Tic-tac-toe game.

However, it was not commercialized for the general public at that time. This game was mainly developed for the first mainframe computer which was known as EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator).

During the same period, another new video game was also launched which was known as Strachey’s Draught. The game was named after the British scientist, Christopher Starchy.

It was in 1962 that the first commercial video game, Spacewar, was launched for the people to derive surplus amusement. It was a space-centric combat game that could be played by two players.

This game was created by the students of MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).

1970–1980

Pong was the first arcade game that was released in 1972 by a game development company, Atari. Inc. It was a simple table tennis game that people mostly played to spend their leisure hours.

During the same year, the industry also witnessed the introduction of the first video gaming console which was known as Magnavox Odyssey.

Similarly, the era of the 1980s witnessed the arrival of video games like Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda, etc.

This year also marked the emergence of game consoles like The Sega Master, Nintendo Entertainment System, etc.

1990- 2000

Low service quality and an oversaturated market condition affected the gaming industry during the late 1980’s.

However, the industry was again back in shape in the year 1990 with the launch of the latest video game consoles like Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES).

In this same year, players also saw the arrival of popular games like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 64, etc. During 1990, the market also witnessed the introduction of PCs (personal computers) as a major gaming platform.

In 2000, the industry saw the rise of online gaming with the release of advanced game consoles like Xbox, GameCube, PlayStation, and so on.

The year was also notable due to the introduction of high-end games like Grand Theft Auto III, Halo: Combat Evolved, Super Mario Galaxy, etc.

2010–2020

The industry was at the peak of its innovation with the release of spectacular game consoles like the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and many more to impress game lovers with the integration of cutting-edge features and functionalities.

This decade also witnessed the arrival of popular games like Red Dead Redemption 2, God of War, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and so on. The era also witnessed the emergence of cloud gaming platforms that intend to provide users with on-demand gaming solutions based on subscriptions and other monetization models.

2020-Present

At present, the game industry is at the peak of the revolution with the emergence of next-gen Web 3.0 technologies like Blockchain, NFTs, AR, VR, IoT, and so on. Now, players are evolving as a major pillar of the industry with the arrival of decentralized game platforms like Axie Infinity, Gods Unchained, Decentraland, and so on.

Closing Statement

The industry of game development is constantly evolving due to which developers are working on new concepts to impress next-gen users with the integration of an engaging storyline, advanced features & functionalities, surplus reward-earning scopes, and so on.

This subsequently boosted end-user engagement and revenue generation. If you are also interested in joining this demanding industry, you must establish contact with a reputed gaming company.

It will also help you to come across unique mobile game development ideas for Android & iOS to stand out in the competition.

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Red Apple Technologies
Red Apple Technologies

Written by Red Apple Technologies

Red Apple Technologies with 11+ years of experience in the gaming industry. Working with trending technologies such as Web3 technologies, Metaverse, AR, VR, etc

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