HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a
first-person perspective A first-person narrative is a mode of storytelling in which a storyteller recounts events from their own point of view using the first person It may be narrated by a first-person protagonist (or other focal character), first-person re-teller, ...
, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the
protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
and controlling the player character in a three-dimensional space. The genre shares common traits with other shooter games, and in turn falls under the
action game An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, and platform ga ...
genre. Since the genre's inception, advanced 3D and
pseudo-3D 2.5D (two-and-a-half dimensional) perspective refers to gameplay or movement in a video game or virtual reality environment that is restricted to a two-dimensional (2D) plane with little to no access to a third dimension in a space that otherwis ...
graphics have challenged hardware development, and multiplayer gaming has been integral. The first-person shooter genre has been traced back to ''
Wolfenstein 3D ''Wolfenstein 3D'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by id Software and published by Apogee Software and FormGen. Originally released on May 5, 1992, for DOS, it was inspired by the 1981 Muse Software video game ''Castle Wolfenste ...
'' (1992), which has been credited with creating the genre's basic archetype upon which subsequent titles were based. One such title, and the progenitor of the genre's wider mainstream acceptance and popularity, was ''
Doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher * ...
'' (1993), often considered the most influential game in this genre; for some years, the term ''Doom'' clone was used to designate this genre due to ''Doom''s influence. Corridor shooter was another common name for the genre in its early years, since processing limitations of the era's hardware meant that most of the action in the games had to take place in enclosed areas, such as in cramped spaces like corridors and tunnels. 1998's ''
Half-Life Half-life (symbol ) is the time required for a quantity (of substance) to reduce to half of its initial value. The term is commonly used in nuclear physics to describe how quickly unstable atoms undergo radioactive decay or how long stable ato ...
''—along with its 2004 sequel '' Half-Life 2''—enhanced the narrative and puzzle elements.IGN's Top 100 Games
, ''IGN,'' July 25, 2005, Accessed February 19, 2009
In 1999, the ''Half-Life'' mod ''
Counter-Strike ''Counter-Strike'' (''CS'') is a series of multiplayer tactical first-person shooter video games in which teams of terrorists battle to perpetrate an act of terror (bombing, hostage-taking, assassination) while counter-terrorists try to preve ...
'' was released and, together with ''Doom'', is perhaps one of the most influential first-person shooters. '' GoldenEye 007'', released in 1997, was a landmark first-person shooter for
home consoles A home video game console is a video game console that is designed to be connected to a display device, such as a television, and an external power source as to play video games. Home consoles are generally less powerful and customizable than ...
, while the '' Halo'' series heightened the console's commercial and critical appeal as a platform for first-person shooter titles. In the 21st century, the first-person shooter is the most commercially viable video game genre, and in 2016, shooters accounted for over 27% of all video game sales.


Definition

First-person shooters are a type of
shooter game Shooter video games or shooters are a subgenre of action video games where the focus is almost entirely on the defeat of the character's enemies using the weapons given to the player. Usually these weapons are firearms or some other long-range ...
that relies on a first-person point of view with which the player experiences the action through the eyes of the character. They differ from
third-person shooter Third-person shooter (TPS) is a subgenre of 3D shooter games in which the gameplay consists primarily of shooting. It is closely related to first-person shooters, but with the player character visible on-screen during play. While 2D shoot 'em ...
s in that, in a third-person shooter, the player can see the character they are controlling (usually from behind, or above). The primary design focus is combat, mainly involving firearms or other types of long range weapons. A defining feature of the genre is "player-guided navigation through a three-dimensional space." This is a defining characteristic that clearly distinguishes the genre from other types of shooting games that employ a
first-person perspective A first-person narrative is a mode of storytelling in which a storyteller recounts events from their own point of view using the first person It may be narrated by a first-person protagonist (or other focal character), first-person re-teller, ...
, including
light gun shooter Light gun shooter, also called light gun game or simply gun game, is a shooter video game genre in which the primary design element is to simulate a shooting gallery by having the player aiming and discharging a gun-shaped controller at a scr ...
s,
rail shooters Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of charact ...
,
shooting gallery game Shooter video games or shooters are a subgenre of action video games where the focus is almost entirely on the defeat of the character's enemies using the weapons given to the player. Usually these weapons are firearms or some other long-range ...
s, or older shooting electro-mechanical games. First person-shooter games are thus categorized as being distinct from light gun shooters, a similar genre with a first-person perspective which uses dedicated light gun peripherals, in contrast to the use of conventional input devices.Casamassina, Matt
Controller Concepts: Gun Games
, ''IGN,'' Sept 26, 2005, Accessed Feb 27, 2009
Light-gun shooters (like '' Virtua Cop'') often feature "on-rails" (scripted) movement, whereas first-person shooters give the player complete freedom to roam the surroundings. The first-person shooter may be considered a distinct genre itself, or a type of shooter game, in turn a subgenre of the wider
action game An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, and platform ga ...
genre. Following the release of ''Doom'' in 1993, games in this style were commonly referred to as "Doom clones";Doom
, ''Encyclopædia Britannica,'' Accessed February 25, 2009
over time this term has largely been replaced by "first-person shooter". ''Wolfenstein 3D,'' released in 1992, the year before ''Doom'', has been often credited with introducing the genre, but critics have since identified similar, though less advanced, games developed as far back as 1973. There are occasional disagreements regarding the specific design elements which constitute a first-person shooter. For example, titles like '' Deus Ex'' or ''
BioShock ''BioShock'' is a 2007 first-person shooter game developed by 2K Boston (later Irrational Games) and 2K Australia, and published by 2K Games. The first game in the ''BioShock'' series, it was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 platf ...
'' may be considered as first-person shooters, but may also fit into the role-playing games category, as they borrow extensively from that genre.Perry, Douglass C.
BioShock: Ken Levine Talks First-Person Shooters
, ''IGN,'' September 15, 2006, Accessed February 25, 2009
Other examples, like '' Far Cry'' and '' Rage'', could also be considered
adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or Puzzle video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus on story allows it to draw ...
s, because they focus more on exploration than simple action, they task players with multiple different objectives other than just killing enemies, and they often revolve around the construction of complex cinematic storylines with a well defined cast of secondary characters to interact with. Furthermore, certain puzzle or platforming games are also sometimes categorized as first-person shooters, in spite of lacking any direct combat or shooting element, instead using a first-person perspective to help players immerse within the game and better navigate 3D environments (for example, in the case of ''
Portal Portal often refers to: *Portal (architecture), an opening in a wall of a building, gate or fortification, or the extremities (ends) of a tunnel Portal may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * ''Portal'' (series), two video games ...
'', the 'gun' the player character carries is used to create portals through walls rather than fire projectiles). Some commentators also extend the definition to include
combat flight simulator Combat flight simulators are vehicle simulation games, amateur flight simulation computer programs used to simulate military aircraft and their operations. These are distinct from dedicated flight simulators used for professional pilot and mil ...
s and
space battle Space warfare is hypothetical combat in which one or more belligerents are situated in outer space. The scope of space warfare therefore includes ''ground-to-space warfare'', such as attacking satellites from the Earth; ''space-to-space warfare ...
games, whenever the cockpit of the aircraft is depicted from a first-person point of view.


Game design

Like most shooter games, first-person shooters involve an
avatar Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearanc ...
, one or more
ranged weapon A ranged weapon is any weapon that can engage targets beyond hand-to-hand distance, i.e. at distances greater than the physical reach of the user holding the weapon itself. The act of using such a weapon is also known as shooting. It is someti ...
s, and a varying number of enemies. Because they take place in a 3D environment, these games tend to be somewhat more realistic than 2D shooter games, and have more accurate representations of gravity, lighting, sound and collisions. First-person shooters played on personal computers are most often controlled with a combination of a keyboard and mouse. This system has been claimed as superior to that found in console games, which frequently use two
analog stick An analog stick (or analogue stick in British English), sometimes called a control stick or thumbstick, is an input device for a controller (often a game controller) that is used for two-dimensional input. An analog stick is a variation of a joys ...
s: one used for running and sidestepping, the other for looking and aiming.Treit, Ryan
Novice Guides: First Person Shooter
''Xbox.com,'' Accessed February 23, 2009
It is common to display the character's hands and weaponry in the main view, with a heads-up display showing health,
ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...
and location details. Often, it is possible to overlay a map of the surrounding area.


Combat and power-ups

First-person shooters generally focus on action gameplay, with fast-paced combat and dynamic firefights being a central point of the experience, though certain titles may also place a greater emphasis on narrative, problem-solving and logic puzzles. In addition to shooting, melee combat may also be used extensively. In some games, melee weapons are especially powerful, as a reward for the risk the player must take in maneuvering his character into close proximity to the enemy. In other games, instead, melee weapons may be less effective but necessary as a last resort.Quake Wars Guide
''IGN'', Accessed March 10, 2009
" Tactical shooters" tend to be more realistic, and require the players to use teamwork and strategy in order to succeed; the players can often command a squad of characters, which may be controlled by the
A.I. Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech rec ...
or by human teammates,While generally better than Spec Ops, Rainbow Six carries its own baggage, especially where the conflict of realism versus gameplay rears its ugly head. and can be given different tasks during the course of the mission. First-person shooters typically present players with a vast arsenal of weapons, which can have a large impact on how they will approach the game. Some games offer realistic reproductions of actual existing (or even historical) firearms, simulating their rate of fire, magazine size, ammunition amount, recoil and accuracy. Depending on the context, other first-person shooters may incorporate some imaginative variations, including futuristic prototypes, alien-technology or magical weapons, and/or implementing a wide array of different projectiles, from lasers, to energy, plasma, rockets, and arrows. These many variations may also be applied to the tossing of grenades, bombs, spears and the like. Also, more unconventional modes of destruction may be employed by the playable character, such as flames, electricity, telekinesis or other supernatural powers, and traps. In the early era of first-person shooters, often designers allowed characters to carry a large number of different weapons with little to no reduction in speed or mobility. More modern games started to adopt a more realistic approach, where the player can only equip a handheld gun, coupled with a rifle, or even limiting the players to only one weapon of choice at a time, forcing them to swap between different alternatives according to the situation. In some games, there's the option to trade up or upgrade weapons, resulting in multiple degrees of customization. Thus, the standards of realism are extremely variable. The protagonist can generally get healing and equipment supplies by means of collectible items such as
first aid kit A first aid kit or medical kit is a collection of supplies and equipment used to give immediate medical treatment, primarily to treat injuries and other mild or moderate medical conditions. There is a wide variation in the contents of first aid ...
s or ammunition packs, simply by walking over, or interacting with them.Staff
The Wednesday 10: First-Person Shooter Cliches
, ''IGN,'' February 11, 2009, Accessed February 23, 2009
Some games allow players to accumulate experience points in a role-playing game fashion, that can generally be used to unlock new weapons, bonuses and skills.


Level design

First-person shooters may be structurally composed of levels, or use the technique of a continuous narrative in which the game never leaves the first-person perspective. Others feature large
sandbox A sandbox is a sandpit, a wide, shallow playground construction to hold sand, often made of wood or plastic. Sandbox or Sand box may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Sandbox (band), a Canadian rock music group * ''Sand ...
environments, which are not divided into levels and can be explored freely. In first-person shooters, protagonists interact with the environment to varying degrees, from basics such as using doors, to problem solving puzzles based on a variety of interactive objects. In some games, the player can damage the environment, also to varying degrees: one common device is the use of barrels containing
explosive material An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...
which the player can shoot, harming nearby enemies. Other games feature environments which are extensively destructible, allowing for additional visual effects. The game world will often make use of science fiction, historic (particularly World War II) or modern military themes, with such antagonists as
aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...
, monsters,
terrorists Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
and soldiers of various types. Games feature multiple difficulty settings; in harder modes, enemies are tougher, more aggressive and do more damage, and power-ups are limited. In easier modes, the player can succeed through reaction times alone; on more difficult settings, it is often necessary to memorize the levels through trial and error.


Multiplayer

First-person shooters may feature a multiplayer mode, taking place on specialized levels. Some games are designed specifically for multiplayer gaming, and have very limited single player modes in which the player competes against game-controlled characters termed "bots". Massively multiplayer online first-person shooters allow thousands of players to compete at once in a persistent world.The Worlds First MMOFPS is nearly complete
, ''IGN,'' May 5, 2003, Accessed February 23, 2009
Large scale multiplayer games allow multiple squads, with leaders issuing commands and a commander controlling the team's overall strategy.Kosak, Dave

, ''GameSpy,'' June 17, 2005, Accessed February 23, 2009
Multiplayer games have a variety of different styles of match. The classic types are the
deathmatch Deathmatch, also known as free-for-all, is a gameplay mode integrated into many shooter games, including first-person shooter (FPS), and real-time strategy (RTS) video games, where the goal is to kill (or "frag") the other players' characters a ...
(and its team-based variant) in which players score points by killing other players' characters; and
capture the flag Capture the flag (CTF) is a traditional outdoor sport where two or more teams each have a flag (or other markers) and the objective is to capture the other team's flag, located at the team's "base", and bring it safely back to their own base. ...
, in which teams attempt to penetrate the opposing base, capture a flag and return it to their own base whilst preventing the other team from doing the same. Other game modes may involve attempting to capture enemy bases or areas of the map, attempting to take hold of an object for as long as possible while evading other players, or deathmatch variations involving limited lives or in which players fight over a particularly potent power-up. These match types may also be customizable, allowing the players to vary weapons, health and power-ups found on the map, as well as victory criteria. Games may allow players to choose between various classes, each with its own strengths, weaknesses, equipment and roles within a team.


Free-to-play

There are many free-to-play first-person shooters on the market now, including '' Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory'', ''
Apex Legends ''Apex Legends'' is a free-to-play battle royale-hero shooter game developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts. It was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in February 2019, for Nintendo Switch in March 202 ...
'', '' Team Fortress 2'', '' Planetside 2, and Halo Infinite Multiplayer.'' Some games are released as free-to-play as their intended business model and can be highly profitable (''League of Legends'' earned $2 billion in 2017), but others such as ''Eternal Crusade'' begin their life as paid games and become free-to-play later to reach a wider audience after an initially disappointing reception. Some player communities complain about freemium first-person-shooters, fearing that they create unbalanced games, but many game designers have tweaked prices in response to criticism, and players can usually get the same benefits by playing longer rather than paying.


History


Origins: 1970s–1980s

The earliest two documented first-person shooter video games are '' Maze War'' and '' Spasim.'' ''Maze War'' was originally developed in 1973 by Greg Thompson, Steve Colley and Howard Palmer, high-school students in a NASA work-study program trying to develop a program to help visualize fluid dynamics for spacecraft designs. The work became a maze game presented to the player in the first-person, and later included support for a second player and the ability to shoot the other player to win the game. Thompson took the game's code with him to Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where with help from Dave Lebling to create an eight-player version that could be played over
ARPANET The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was the first wide-area packet-switched network with distributed control and one of the first networks to implement the TCP/IP protocol suite. Both technologies became the technical foun ...
, computer-run players using artificial intelligence, customizable maps, online scoreboards and a spectator mode. ''Spasim'' had a documented debut at the
University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Universi ...
in 1974. The game was a rudimentary space flight simulator for up to 32 players, featuring a first-person perspective.Garmon, Jay
Geek Trivia: First shots fired
, ''TechRepublic'', May 24, 2005, Accessed February 16, 2009
Both games were distinct from modern first-person shooters, involving simple tile-based movement where the player could only move from square to square and turn in 90-degree increments. Such games spawned others that used similar visuals to display the player as part of a maze (such as '' Akalabeth: World of Doom'' in 1979), and were loosely called "rat's eye view" games, since they gave the appearance of a rat running through a maze. Another crucial early game that influenced first-person shooters was '' Wayout''. It featured the player trying to escape a maze, using ray casting to render the environment, simulating visually how each wall segment would be rendered relative to the player's position and facing angle. This allowed more freeform movement compared to the grid-based and cardinal ''Maze War'' and ''Spasim''. A slightly more sophisticated first-person shooting mainframe game was '' Panther'' (1975), a tank simulator for the PLATO system. Atari's first-person tank shooter
arcade video game An arcade video game takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. Most arcade video games are coin-operated, housed in an arc ...
'' Battlezone'' (1980) was released for arcades and presented using a vector graphics display, with the game designed by Ed Rotberg. It is considered to be the first successful first-person shooter video game, making it a milestone for the genre. It was primarily inspired by Atari's top-down arcade
shooter game Shooter video games or shooters are a subgenre of action video games where the focus is almost entirely on the defeat of the character's enemies using the weapons given to the player. Usually these weapons are firearms or some other long-range ...
'' Tank'' (1974). The original
arcade cabinet An arcade cabinet, also known as an arcade machine or a coin-op cabinet or coin-op machine, is the housing within which an arcade game's electronic hardware resides. Most cabinets designed since the mid-1980s conform to the Japanese Amusement Ma ...
also employed a periscope viewfinder similar to submarine shooting
arcade games An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade ...
such as Midway's video game '' Sea Wolf'' (1976) and Sega's electro-mechanical game '' Periscope'' (1966). ''Battlezone'' became the first successful mass-market game featuring a first-person viewpoint and wireframe
3D graphics 3D computer graphics, or “3D graphics,” sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for th ...
, with a version later released for home computers in 1983.Shahrani, Sam
Educational Feature: A History and Analysis of Level Design in 3D Computer Games - Pt. 1
, ''GamaSutra'', April 26, 2006, Accessed March 7, 2009


Early first-person shooters: 1987–1992

'' MIDI Maze'', an early first-person shooter released in 1987 for the
Atari ST The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...
,MIDI Maze: Atari ST
, IGN, Accessed September 2, 2012
featured maze-based gameplay and character designs similar to '' Pac-Man'', but displayed in a first-person perspective. Later ported to various systems — including the
Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same tea ...
and Super NES under the title '' Faceball 2000 ''— it featured the first network multiplayer deathmatches, using a MIDI interface. It was a relatively minor game, but despite the inconvenience of connecting numerous machines together, its multiplayer mode gained a cult following; 1UP.com called it the "first multi-player 3D shooter on a mainstream system" and the first "major LAN action game".Parish, Jeremy
The Essential 50: Faceball 2000
''1UP,'' Accessed April 24, 2009, Archived from th
original
on February 28, 2016 at the Wayback Machine
Id Software's '' Hovertank 3D'' pioneered ray casting technology in May 1991 to enable faster gameplay than 1980s vehicle simulators; and '' Catacomb 3-D'' introduced another advance, texture mapping, in November 1991. The second game to use texture mapping was '' Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss'', a March 1992
action role-playing game An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both the action game and role-playing genre. Definition The games emphasize real-time combat where the player h ...
by Looking Glass Technologies that featured a first-person viewpoint and an advanced graphics engine. In October 1990, id developer John Romero learned about texture mapping from a phone call to Paul Neurath. Romero described the texture mapping technique to id programmer John Carmack, who remarked, "I can do that.", and would feel motivated by Looking Glass's example to do the same in ''Catacomb 3-D''. ''Catacomb 3-D'' also introduced the display of the protagonist's hand and weapon (in this case, magical spells) on the screen, whereas previously aspects of the player's avatar were not visible. The experience of developing ''Ultima Underworld'' would make it possible for Looking Glass to create the ''
Thief Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...
'' and ''
System Shock ''System Shock'' is a 1994 first-person action-adventure video game developed by LookingGlass Technologies and published by Origin Systems. It was directed by Doug Church with Warren Spector serving as producer. The game is set aboard a space ...
'' series years later.


Rise in popularity: 1992–1995

''
Wolfenstein 3D ''Wolfenstein 3D'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by id Software and published by Apogee Software and FormGen. Originally released on May 5, 1992, for DOS, it was inspired by the 1981 Muse Software video game ''Castle Wolfenste ...
'' (created by id Software as a successor of the successful 1980s video games ''
Castle Wolfenstein ''Castle Wolfenstein'' is a 1981 action-adventure game that was developed by Muse Software for the Apple II home computer. It is one of the earliest games to be based on stealth mechanics. An Atari 8-bit family port was released in 1982 and w ...
'' and '' Beyond Castle Wolfenstein'' and released in 1992) was an instant success, fueled largely by its shareware release, and has been credited with inventing the first-person shooter genre.Cifaldi, Frank
The Gamasutra Quantum Leap Awards: First-Person Shooters
, ''GamaSutra,'' September 1, 2006, Accessed February 16, 2009
It was built on the ray casting technology pioneered in earlier games to create a revolutionary template for shooter game design, which first-person shooters are still based upon today. Despite its violent themes, ''Wolfenstein'' largely escaped the controversy generated by the later ''
Doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher * ...
'', although it was banned in Germany due to the use of Nazi iconography;When Two Tribes Go to War: A History of Video Game Controversy
, ''GameSpot,'' Accessed February 24, 2009
and the Super NES version replaced the enemy attack dogs with giant rats.
Apogee Software 3D Realms Entertainment ApS is a video game publisher based in Aalborg, Denmark. Scott Miller founded the company in his parents' home in Garland, Texas, in 1987 as Apogee Software Productions to release his game '' Kingdom of Kroz''. In the ...
, the publisher of ''Wolfenstein 3D,'' followed up its success with '' Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold'' in 1993 which featured friendly non-player characters in the form of informants that would give the player hints and supplies. The game was initially well-received but sales rapidly declined in the wake of the success of id's ''Doom'', released a week later. ''Doom'', released as
shareware Shareware is a type of proprietary software that is initially shared by the owner for trial use at little or no cost. Often the software has limited functionality or incomplete documentation until the user sends payment to the software developer ...
in 1993, refined ''Wolfenstein 3D's'' template by adding support for higher resolution, improved textures, variations in height (e.g., stairs and platforms the player's character could climb upon), more intricate level design (''Wolfenstein 3D'' was limited to a grid based system where walls had to be orthogonal to each other, whereas ''Doom'' allowed for any inclination) and rudimentary illumination effects such as flickering lights and areas of darkness, creating a far more believable 3D environment than ''Wolfenstein 3D'''s levels, all of which had a flat-floor space and corridors. ''Doom'' allowed competitive matches between multiple players, termed "deathmatches," and the game was responsible for the word's subsequent entry into the video gaming lexicon. According to creator
John Romero John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...
, the game's deathmatch concept was inspired by the competitive multiplayer of fighting games such as '' Street Fighter II'' and ''
Fatal Fury ''Fatal Fury'', known as in Japan, is a fighting game series developed by SNK for the Neo Geo system. Games Canon * ''Fatal Fury'' – The first game of the ''Fatal Fury'' series allowed players to select one of three characters, Terry Bo ...
''. ''Doom'' became so popular that its multiplayer features began to cause problems for companies whose networks were used to play the game, causing frequent bandwidth reductions. ''Doom'' has been considered the most important first-person shooter ever made. It was highly influential not only on subsequent shooter games but on video gaming in general, and has been made available on almost every video gaming system since. Multiplayer gaming, which is now integral to the first-person shooter genre, was first successfully achieved on a large scale by ''Doom''. While its combination of gory violence, dark humor and
hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells ...
ish imagery garnered acclaim from critics, these attributes also generated criticism from religious groups and censorship committees, with many commentators labelling the game a "murder simulator". There was further controversy when it emerged that the
perpetrators In law enforcement jargon, a suspect is a known person accused or suspected of committing a crime. Police and reporters in the United States often use the word suspect as a jargon when referring to the perpetrator of the offense (perp in dated U ...
of the
Columbine High School massacre On April 20, 1999, a school shooting and attempted bombing occurred at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, 12th grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher. ...
were fans of the game; the families of several victims later unsuccessfully attempted to sue numerous video game companies - among them id Software - whose work the families claimed inspired the massacre. In 1994,
Raven Software Raven Software Corporation is an American video game developer based in Wisconsin and founded in 1990. In 1997, Raven made an exclusive publishing deal with Activision and was subsequently acquired by them. After the acquisition, many of the stu ...
released ''
Heretic Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
'', which used a modified version of the ''Doom'' engine that allowed for vertical aiming, an inventory system to store and select items, and gibs. '' Star Wars: Dark Forces'' was released in 1995 after
LucasArts Lucasfilm Games (known as LucasArts between 1990 and 2021) is an American video game licensor that is part of Lucasfilm. It was founded in May 1982 by George Lucas as a video game development group alongside his film company; as part of a large ...
decided '' Star Wars'' would make appropriate material for a game in the style of ''Doom''. However, ''Star Wars: Dark Forces'' improved on several technical features that ''Doom'' lacked, such as the ability to crouch, jump, or look and aim up and down.Turner, Benjamin & Bowen, Kevin
Bringin' in the DOOM Clones
''GameSpy,'' December 11, 2003, Accessed February 19, 2009
''Dark Forces'' also was one of the first games to incorporate 3D-designed objects rendered into the game's 2.5D graphics engine. Apogee's '' Duke Nukem 3D'' (sequel to the earlier platformers '' Duke Nukem'' and '' Duke Nukem II''), released in 1996, was "the last of the great, sprite-based shooters" winning acclaim for its humor based around stereotyped
machismo Machismo (; ; ; ) is the sense of being " manly" and self-reliant, a concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity". Machismo is a term originating in the early 1930s and 1940s best defined as hav ...
as well as its adrenalinic gameplay and graphics. However, some found the game's (and later the whole series') treatment of women to be derogatory and tasteless. Most shooters in this period were developed for IBM PC compatible computers. On the Macintosh side,
Bungie Bungie, Inc. is an American video game company based in Bellevue, Washington. It is a studio owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The company was established in May 1991 by Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones afte ...
released its first shooter, '' Pathways into Darkness'' in 1993, which featured more adventure and narrative elements alongside first-person shooter gameplay. ''Pathways'' had been inspired by ''Wolfenstein 3D'', and born out of an attempt to take their previous top-down dungeon exploration game '' Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete'' into a 3D setting. In the subsequent year, Bungie released '' Marathon'', which streamlined concepts from ''Pathways'' by eliminating role-playing elements in favor of the shooter action. ''Marathon'' was highly successful, leading to two sequels to form the '' Marathon Trilogy'', and becoming the standard for first-person shooters on that platform. ''Marathon'' pioneered or was an early adopter of several new features such as default freelook, dual-wielded and dual-function weapons, versatile multiplayer modes (such as King of the Hill, Kill the Man with the Ball, and cooperative play), and friendly
non-player character A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster ...
s (NPCs). The ''Marathon'' games also had a strong emphasis on storytelling in addition to the action, which would continue in Bungie's future projects, like '' Halo'' and '' Destiny''.


Advances in 3D graphics: 1995–1999

In 1994, Japanese company Exact released ''Geograph Seal'' for the Sharp X68000 home computer. An obscure import title as far as the Western market is concerned, it was nonetheless an early example of a 3D polygonal first-person shooter, with innovative
platform game A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action game, action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform game ...
mechanics and free-roaming outdoor environments. The following year, Exact released its successor for the PlayStation console, called '' Jumping Flash!'', which placed more emphasis on its platform elements. ''
Descent Descent may refer to: As a noun Genealogy and inheritance * Common descent, concept in evolutionary biology * Kinship, one of the major concepts of cultural anthropology **Pedigree chart or family tree **Ancestry **Lineal descendant ** Heritage * ...
'' (released by Parallax Software in 1995), a game in which the player pilots a spacecraft around caves and factory ducts, was among the earliest truly three-dimensional first-person shooters. It abandoned sprites and ray casting in favour of polygonal models and allowed movement through all of the six possible degrees of freedom. Shortly after the release of ''Duke Nukem 3D'', in 1996, id Software released the much anticipated '' Quake''. Like ''Doom'', ''Quake'' was influential and genre-defining, featuring fast-paced, gory gameplay, within a completely 3D game environment, and making use of real-time rendered polygonal models instead of sprites. It was centered on online gaming and featured multiple match types still found in first-person shooter games today. It was the first FPS game to gain a cult following of player
clans A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meanin ...
(although the concept had existed previously in '' MechWarrior 2s ''Netmech'', with its ''
Battletech ''BattleTech'' is a wargaming and military science fiction franchise launched by FASA Corporation in 1984, acquired by WizKids in 2001, which was in turn acquired by Topps in 2003; and published since 2007 by Catalyst Game Labs. The trademar ...
'' lore as well as amongst MUD players), and would inspire popular
LAN parties A LAN party is a gathering of people with personal computers or compatible game consoles, where a local area network (LAN) connection is established between the devices using a router or switch, primarily for the purpose of playing multiplayer v ...
and events such as QuakeCon. The game's popularity and use of 3D polygonal graphics also helped to expand the growing market for
video card A graphics card (also called a video card, display card, graphics adapter, VGA card/VGA, video adapter, display adapter, or mistakenly GPU) is an expansion card which generates a feed of output images to a display device, such as a computer mon ...
hardware; and the additional support and encouragement for game modifications attracted players who wanted to tinker with the game and create their own modules. According to creator John Romero, ''Quake''s 3D world was inspired by the 3D fighting game '' Virtua Fighter''. ''Quake'' was also intended to expand the genre with ''Virtua Fighter'' influenced melee brawling, but this element was eventually scrapped from the final game. Based on the James Bond film, Rare's '' GoldenEye 007'' was released in 1997, and as of 2004 it was still the best-selling Nintendo 64 game in the United States. It has been the first landmark first-person shooter for console gamers and was highly acclaimed for its atmospheric single-player campaign and well designed multiplayer maps. It featured a sniper rifle, the ability to perform head-shots, and the incorporation of stealth elements (all of these aspects were also included in the game's spiritual sequel, '' Perfect Dark'') as well as some '' Virtua Cop''-inspired features such as weapon reloading, position-dependent hit reaction animations, penalties for killing innocents, and a newly designed aiming system that allowed players to aim at a precise spot on the screen. Though not the first of its kind, ''
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six ''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six'' (often shortened to ''Rainbow Six'') is a tactical first-person shooter video game franchise by Ubisoft, based on the novel '' Rainbow Six'' by American author Tom Clancy. Critically and commercially successful, th ...
'' started a popular trend of
tactical first-person shooter A tactical shooter is a subgenre of shooter games that cover both the first-person shooter and third-person shooter genres. These games aim to simulate realistic combat through slower-paced and punishing gameplay. This makes tactics, planning, ...
s in 1998. It featured a team-based, realistic design and themes based around
counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or ...
, requiring missions to be planned before execution and in it, a single hit was sometimes enough to kill a character. ''
Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor ...
'', released in 1999, gave birth to a long running proliferation of simulative first-person shooters set during World War II.
Valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fitting ...
's ''
Half-Life Half-life (symbol ) is the time required for a quantity (of substance) to reduce to half of its initial value. The term is commonly used in nuclear physics to describe how quickly unstable atoms undergo radioactive decay or how long stable ato ...
'' was released in 1998, based upon ''Quake''s graphics technology. Initially met with only mild anticipation, it went on to become a commercial success. While most of the previous first-person shooters on the IBM PC platform had focused on visceral gameplay with relatively weak or irrelevant plots, ''Half-Life'' placed a far bigger focus on strong narrative; the game featured no
cut scene A cutscene or event scene (sometimes in-game cinematic or in-game movie) is a sequence in a video game that is not interactive, interrupting the gameplay. Such scenes are used to show conversations between characters, set the mood, reward the ...
s but remained in the first-person perspective at all times. It capitalized heavily on the concepts of non-enemy characters (previously featured in many other titles, such as the '' Marathon series'' and '' Strife'') and wider in-game interactivity (as first introduced by the likes of ''Duke Nukem 3D'' and ''System Shock'') but did not employ power-ups in the traditional sense, making for a somewhat more believable overall experience. The game was praised for its
artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...
, selection of weapons and attention to detail and "has since been recognized as one of the greatest games of all time" according to GameSpot. Its sequel, '' Half-Life 2'', (released in 2004), was less influential though "arguably a more impressive game". '' Starsiege: Tribes,'' also released in 1998, was a multiplayer online shooter allowing more than 32 players in a single match. It featured team-based gameplay with a variety of specialized roles, and an unusual jet pack feature. The game was highly popular and later imitated by many other titles such as the ''
Battlefield A battlefield, battleground, or field of battle is the location of a present or historic battle involving ground warfare. It is commonly understood to be limited to the point of contact between opposing forces, though battles may involve troop ...
'' series. Id's '' Quake III Arena'' and Epic's '' Unreal Tournament,'' both released in 1999, became the real milestones for multiplayer gaming, thanks to their incredible graphics and frenetic, yet accessible and perfectly balanced online modes; on the other hand, both games only featured a very limited single player campaign designed for a more "disposable"
arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...
approach. ''
Counter-Strike ''Counter-Strike'' (''CS'') is a series of multiplayer tactical first-person shooter video games in which teams of terrorists battle to perpetrate an act of terror (bombing, hostage-taking, assassination) while counter-terrorists try to preve ...
'' was also released in 1999, a ''Half-Life''
modification Modification may refer to: * Modifications of school work for students with special educational needs * Modifications (genetics), changes in appearance arising from changes in the environment * Posttranslational modifications, changes to protei ...
with a counter-terrorism theme copied from ''Rainbow Six''. The game and later version '' Counter-Strike: Source'' (2004) went on to become the most popular multiplayer game modification ever, with over 90,000 players competing online at any one time during its peak.


Online wars and return of the console: 2000–2008

At the E3 game show in 1999,
Bungie Bungie, Inc. is an American video game company based in Bellevue, Washington. It is a studio owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The company was established in May 1991 by Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones afte ...
unveiled a real-time strategy game called '' Halo''; aka Halo CE at the following E3, an overhauled
third-person shooter Third-person shooter (TPS) is a subgenre of 3D shooter games in which the gameplay consists primarily of shooting. It is closely related to first-person shooters, but with the player character visible on-screen during play. While 2D shoot 'em ...
version was displayed. In 2000, Bungie was bought by Microsoft. ''Halo'' was then revamped and released as a first-person shooter; it was one of the launch titles for the Xbox console. It was a runaway critical and commercial success, and is considered a premier console first-person shooter. It featured narrative and storyline reminiscent of Bungie's earlier Marathon series but now told largely through in-game dialog and cut scenes. It also received acclaim for its characters, both the protagonist, Master Chief and its alien antagonists. The sequel, ''
Halo 2 ''Halo 2'' is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox console. ''Halo 2'' is the second installment in the ''Halo'' franchise and the sequel to 2001's critically acclaimed '' ...
'' (2004), brought the popularity of online gaming to the console market through the medium of
Xbox Live The Xbox network, formerly and still sometimes branded as Xbox Live, is an Internet, online multiplayer video game, multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft. It was first made available to the Xbox ...
, on which it was the most played game for almost two years. '' Deus Ex'', released by Ion Storm in 2000, featured a levelling system similar to that found in role-playing games; it also had multiple narratives depending on how the player completed missions and won acclaim for its serious, artistic style. The '' Resident Evil'' games '' Survivor'' in 2000 and '' Dead Aim'' in 2003 attempted to combine the light gun and first-person shooter genres along with
survival horror Survival horror is a Video game genre, subgenre of Survival game, survival of the players as the game tries to frighten them with either horror graphics or scary ambience. Although combat can be part of the gameplay, the player is made to feel l ...
elements. '' Metroid Prime,'' released in 2002 for the
Nintendo GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wi ...
, a highly praised console first-person shooter, incorporated action adventure elements such as jumping puzzles and built on the '' Metroid'' series of 2D side-scrolling platform-adventures. Taking a "massive stride forward for first-person games", the game emphasized its adventure elements rather than shooting and was credited by journalist Chris Kohler with "breaking the genre free from the clutches of ''Doom''".Kohler, Chris
The 15 Most Influential Games of the Decade
, ''
Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fran ...
'' December 24, 2009, Accessed September 10, 2011
Efforts to develop early handheld video games with 3-D graphics have eventually led to the dawn of ambitious handheld first-person shooter games, starting with two Game Boy Advance ports of '' Back Track'' and ''Doom'' not long after the system was launched in 2001. The GBA eventually saw the release of several first-person shooter games specifically tailored for it, including '' Duke Nukem Advance'', '' Ecks vs. Sever'' and '' Dark Arena'', with a sizable amount of them being praised for pushing the hardware to the limit while providing satisfying gameplay. Despite their varying reception, they would demonstrate the viability of first-person shooters on handhelds, which became more apparent with new technological advances that accompanied future handheld systems. '' World War II Online'', released in 2001, featured a persistent and "massively multiplayer environment", although
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa dist ...
said that "the full realization of that environment is probably still a few years away." '' Battlefield 1942'', another World War II shooter released in 2002, featured large scale battles incorporating aircraft, naval vessels, land vehicles and infantry combat. In 2003, '' PlanetSide'' allowed hundreds of players at once to compete in a persistent world, and was also promoted as the "world's first massively multiplayer online first person shooter." The ''
Serious Sam ''Serious Sam'' is a video game series created and primarily developed by Croteam. It consists predominantly of first-person shooters. The series follows the advances of mercenary Sam "Serious" Stone against Mental, an extraterrestrial overlo ...
'' series, first released in 2001, and ''
Painkiller An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American English), analgaesic (British English), pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain (that is, analgesia or pain management). It i ...
'', released in 2004, both emphasized fighting waves of enemies in large open arenas, in an attempt to hearken back to the genre's roots. '' Doom 3'', released in 2004, placed a greater emphasis on horror and frightening the player than previous games in the series and was a critically acclaimed best seller, though some commentators felt it lacked gameplay substance and innovation, putting too much emphasis on impressive graphics. In 2005, a film based on ''Doom'' featured a sequence that emulated the viewpoint and action of the first-person shooter, but was critically derided as deliberately unintelligent and gratuitously violent. In 2005, '' F.E.A.R.'' was acclaimed for successfully combining first-person shooter gameplay with a
Japanese horror Japanese horror is horror fiction derived from popular culture in Japan, generally noted for its unique thematic and conventional treatment of the horror genre differing from the traditional Western representation of horror. Japanese horror tends ...
atmosphere. Later in 2007, Irrational Games' ''
BioShock ''BioShock'' is a 2007 first-person shooter game developed by 2K Boston (later Irrational Games) and 2K Australia, and published by 2K Games. The first game in the ''BioShock'' series, it was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 platf ...
'' would be acclaimed by some commentators as the best game of that year for its innovation in artistry, narrative and design, with some calling it the "
spiritual successor A spiritual successor (sometimes called a spiritual sequel) is a product or fictional work that is similar to, or directly inspired by, another previous work, but (unlike a traditional prequel or sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, ...
" to Irrational's earlier '' System Shock 2''. Finally, the
Crytek Crytek GmbH is a German video game developer and software developer based in Frankfurt. Founded by the Yerli brothers in Coburg in 1999 and moved to Frankfurt in 2006, Crytek also operates further studios in Kyiv, Ukraine and Istanbul, Turkey. ...
games '' Far Cry'' (2004) and ''
Crysis ''Crysis'' is a first-person shooter video game series created by Crytek. The series revolves around a group of military protagonists with " nanosuits", technologically advanced suits of armor that give them enhanced physical strength, speed, ...
'' (2007) as well as Ubisoft's ''
Far Cry 2 ''Far Cry 2'' is a 2008 first-person shooter developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. A top-down shooter version for mobile phones was developed and published by Gameloft. It is t ...
'' (2008) would break new ground in terms of graphics and large, open-ended level design, whereas '' Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare'' (2007), '' Resistance: Fall of Man'' (2006) and its sequel '' Resistance 2'' (2008) presented increasingly refined linear levels and narratives, with the fast pace and linearity of the ''
Call of Duty ''Call of Duty'' is a first-person shooter video game franchise published by Activision. Starting out in 2003, it first focused on games set in World War II. Over time, the series has seen games set in the midst of the Cold War, futuristic ...
'' games bearing a resemblance to rail shooters. BLACK in 2006 was considered to be a leader in cinematic game design, with strong sound design and destructible environments. In 2007, ''
Portal Portal often refers to: *Portal (architecture), an opening in a wall of a building, gate or fortification, or the extremities (ends) of a tunnel Portal may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * ''Portal'' (series), two video games ...
'' popularized the concept of puzzles mechanics in first-person perspective. In 2006, Gamasutra reported the first-person shooter as one of the biggest and fastest growing video game genres in terms of revenue for publishers.Cifaldi, Frank
Analysts: FPS 'Most Attractive' Genre for Publishers
, ''GamaSutra,'' February 21, 2006, Accessed February 23, 2009


2008–present

'' Team Fortress 2'', originally a user-made mod for ''Quake'' but made into an official product by Valve by its release in 2007, launched a new type of team-based subgenre called
hero shooter A hero shooter is a subgenre of shooter games that cover both the first-person shooter and third-person shooter genres. These games emphasize "hero" characters that have distinctive abilities and/or weapons that are specific to them. Game de ...
s, which consist of first-person and third-person shooters where players selected from one of several pre-made characters with existing weapons and skill sets, using those different characters effectively to complete objectives against their opponents. The hero shooter genre had significant growth following the release of '' Overwatch'' in which refined the hero shooter formula by adding unique characters and larger narrative as they expanded the game in future updates. The use of motion-detecting
game controller A game controller, gaming controller, or simply controller, is an input device used with video games or entertainment systems to provide input to a video game, typically to control an object or character in the game. Before the seventh generation ...
s – particularly the Wii's – "promised to make FPS controls more approachable and precise with an interface as simple as literally pointing to aim" and thus "dramatically reshape the first-person shooter." However, technical difficulties pertinent to functions other than aiming – such as maneuvering or reloading – prevented their widespread use among first-person shooters. The
Pointman ''Pointman'' is a TV movie pilot and TV series on the Prime Time Entertainment Network in 1994 to 1995. The premise of the main character is he is framed and convicted of fraud while he was an investment banker. Eventually cleared, Constantine ...
user interface combines a motion-sensitive gamepad, head tracker and sliding foot pedals to increase the precision and level of control over one's avatar in military first-person shooter games. In the late 2010s, first-person and third-person shooters enjoyed a surge in popularity with the rise of
battle royale game A battle royale game is an online multiplayer video game genre that blends last-man-standing gameplay with the survival, exploration and scavenging elements of a survival game. Battle royale games involve dozens to hundreds of players, who sta ...
s, in which many players battle for survival on a large map to be the last man or team standing through intense action-packed combat, with '' PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds'' (2017) reaching the highest number of concurrent players ever to be recorded on Steam. Its free-to-play mobile game version, ''
PUBG Mobile ''PUBG Mobile'' (Chinese: 和平精英; pinyin: Hé Píng Jīng Yīng) is a free-to-play battle royale video game developed by LightSpeed & Quantum Studio, a division of Tencent Games. It is a mobile game adaptation of '' PUBG: Battlegrounds ...
'' (2018), reached over downloads worldwide by early 2021 and grossed over by early 2022.


Research

In 2010, researchers at
Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of L ...
showed that playing first-person shooter video games is associated with superior mental flexibility. Compared to non-players, players of such games were found to require a significantly shorter reaction time while switching between complex tasks, possibly because they are required to develop a more responsive mindset to rapidly react to fast-moving visual and auditory stimuli, and to shift back and forth between different sub-duties.


See also

* First-person shooter engine * List of first-person shooters * Social interaction and first-person shooters


References


External links

{{good article Video game genres Video game terminology Violence in video games