Spacewar! was, and remains, one of the earliest and most influential video games of all time. Built on MIT's PDP-1, it quickly captured the imagination of other early computer experts and spread to other universities. Boston is proud to call it part of our communal history.

It all started here. 1980 saw the launch of Infocom and their first game, Zork I: The Great Underground Empire. For the next eight years the Massachusetts game scene would be dominated by Infocom titles and successes.

Infocom continues releasing their Zork epic, bringing out the second installment in the series.

As the Colecovision and Vectrex make their debut, Infocom continues their pace of releasing new games. By 1982, Zork is a powerhouse franchise, able to drive Infocom's success for years to come.

As the Famicom debuts in Japan, Infocom continues releasing narrative game hits. Graphical games were only starting to be noticed, and would take some years before Infocom released their first ones.

The Infocom Era is in full effect as game after game is released by the studio. Nicknamed "Cambridge Camelot" by the media, even IP like The Hitchhiker's Guide makes it into Boston games.

Even as the NES lands on American shores, Infocom continues its string of game releases year after year. Computer games remain the mainstay for Infocom despite the newly-resurgent console industry.

1986 marked the release of almost 25 games by Infocom, cementing them as an early titan of game development. They remain the most prolific Boston game developer of the past 40 years.

1987 marks the peak of Infocom game development, seeing an astonishing seven games come out from the studio. No company will come close to that record in the next thirty years.

1988 saw the start of new companies and new games in Massachusetts, paving the way for a new renaissance. Studios like Papyrus Design Group and Impressions Games would make their mark throughout the 1990s.

1989 saw the launch of games from two new Mass. studios: Papyrus Design Group and Impressions Games. Both would go on to become staples of the 1990s Boston game scene.

1990 marks the only year since 1980 that no games were released by Mass. studios.

As new studios begin to branch out, new game types begin to come out of Mass. studios. In development are Impressions' first city builder titles, which would make their games household names in the early 1990s. 

1992 saw the first entry in the enduring city builder Caesar by Impressions Games. Spawning multiple sequels and expansions, Caesar helped propel Impressions Games to the national stage.

1993 saw the start of another enduring franchise with Papyrus' IndyCar Racing. An early licensed game, it strove to reproduce the feeling of an IndyCar race and led to a long list of successful racing titles for the studio.

1994 saw some of Boston's most famous titles begin their reign, with Lords of the Realm, System Shock, and NASCAR Racing all releasing that year. These titles would go on to collectively sell millions of copies.

Impressions Games put out over 30 titles during its history, not including expansion packs for their hugely successful Caesar titles. 1995 would see them purchased by Sierra Entertainment, and continue their strong release schedule.

Papyrus was a prolific and successful studio that focused on licensed racing and simulation games for the PC and Console market. Their NASCAR titles spawned a number of crossovers and sequels as racing grew in popularity throughout the 90s.

Although Infocom had been shut down by Activision in 1989, Zork titles continued to be released. 1997's Zork: Grand Inquisitor would be the last Zork graphic adventure title to be released, though re-releases continued into the 2000s.

When Looking Glass Studios released Thief: The Dark Project in 1998, it quickly became one of the most acclaimed games of the year, and their most commercially successful one. Its spin on stealth combat influenced games for years after, and saw a number of remakes and spiritual successors.

1999 saw a number of high profile releases, including System Shock 2, but it would be Asheron's Call that heralded Turbine's entry into game development as well as the rise of MMOs. Running for over 17 years, it foreshadowed the rise of online games over the next two decades.

2000 set the stage for a number of new entries in the coming years: Harmonix got ready to release their first title, Irrational Games capitalized on the success of System Shock 2, and Turbine continued their content updates for Asheron's Call. 

2001 brought inaugural entries from Harmonix, Blue Fang, Mad Doc and Stainless Steel. Nearly all were critical and/or commercial successes, firmly placing Boston as a game development hub for the new millennium.

Before Dejobaan Games made major indie titles like Elegy for a Dead World , they were known for building games on an unusual platform: The PalmOS. Games like BlockHopper and DejobaanBebop stand out as some of the few games released for that platform.

Though tens of millions of gamers would be introduced to the Harmonix name through Guitar Hero and Rock Band, it was their early games Frequency and Amplitude that set the stage for their music-centered career. Built on music as a core concept, they hinted at the massive impact the studio would soon create,

Founded by Adam Levesque and John Wheeler, Blue Fang was best known for its Zoo Tycoon series of games. Following the success of Zoo Tycoon and Zoo Tycoon 2, the company went on to publish a number of expansions, add-ons, and improvements to the series throughout the 2000s.

With over 1.5 million copies sold in its debut year, Guitar Hero ushered in the new era of music games. Selling the dream of playing songs for packed stadiums, for a time it seemed like most houses in America had a plastic guitar by the TV.

Developed by Iron Lore Entertainment, Titan Quest was their first foray into game development. Alongside it were a number of other high-profile Boston releases like Caesar IV (the final entry in the Caesar series), Guitar Hero II, and Dungeons and Dragons Online.

2007 saw some of the highest profile games of the 2000s, with both Bioshock and The Lord of the Rings Online coming out from Boston studios. But it would be Harmonix's Rock Band that dominated an entire genre and redefined music games, just two years after Harmonix made their iconic Guitar Hero.

An unexpected hit came out of Boston's Subatomic Studios, which created one of the first mobile game breakouts with Fieldrunners. Dominating the app store in 2008, it would continue to drive success for the studio for many years after.

As the music game craze continued, Rock Band was ported to a number of different genres like Lego games, mobile, and even a Beatles-specific version. And in parallel, a strong focus on indie games was foreshadowed by Dejobaan's AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! — A Reckless Disregard for Gravity, an early indie breakout from the Boston community.

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Harmonix continued leading the charge in 2010, releasing their successful Dance Central series across consoles. Meanwhile, Turbine games' strong showing in the free to play market led to it being acquired by Warner Bros., later re-branding itself to WB games Boston.

2011 saw  Zynga Boston's only released game, Indiana Jones Adventure World . Formed after Zynga purchased Conduit Labs, many developers would go on to form Proletariat Games after Zynga shut the studio down in 2012.

Demiurge Studios had been around for much longer than their first original title, Shoot Many Robots, would suggest. Founded on game ports, expansions, and contract work, they would go on to be a strong mobile game developer with Marvel Puzzle Quest.

Bioshock Infinite, released after seven years of development, would prove to be the final title released by Irrational Games. Less than a year later, Ken Levine announced that the studio would be dramatically reduced to focus on narrative games under the label Ghost Story Games.

2014 saw a number of smaller releases by Harmonix, along with several entries from indie studios. Several studios, however, were now focusing on games as a service - Disruptor Beam, Turbine, Demiurge, and others continually created updates for their successful titles.

Turbine's final release before it officially became WB Games Boston, Infinite Crisis would prove to be a disaster for the studio, shutting down after only three months post-launch. On the other side of town, Proletariat's World Zombination set the stage for their very successful 2014.

2016 saw a wide variety of game releases, ranging from the Twitch-friendly Streamline to the mobile hit Star Trek Timelines to the indie darling Catlateral Damage. 2016 marked no fewer than eight Boston-based studios releasing all-new titles.

Game of Thrones: Conquest was the second Game of Thrones game to be released by a Boston studio. Coming after Disruptor Beam's Game of Thrones: Ascent, Conquest would become one of the most successful games in Boston history, leading to a revitalization of the studio.

Following in footsteps of Ultima Underworld, OtherSide Entertainment would set out to revitalize the franchise. Those many gamers were most interested in a reboot of System Shock 2, many were also excited to see what 30 years could do for the Underworld legacy.

Kine, a Stadia launch title and Epic store exclusive, won awards in 2019 for its soundtrack and puzzle design. Kind Words became one of the highest-rated games on Steam, with 99% of users recommending it. Both highlighted the success of Boston indie games, and set the stage for the next decade.