What it was. What replaced it.
Master server browser for the entire PC ecosystem
- FOUNDERS
- Mark Surfas · Jack Mathews
- PEAK
- Backbone for 800+ games
- ANTHEM
- Quake III Arena — "Sonic Mayhem" soundtrack
Shut down 5/31/2014. Modders still rebuild it.
GameSpy started as a Quake server browser and ended up as the matchmaking and master-server backbone for hundreds of console and PC titles — Halo 2 PC, Neverwinter Nights, every Nintendo DS Wi-Fi game.
When the GameSpy servers were shut down on May 31, 2014, dozens of beloved games lost online play overnight. Modders and preservation communities have been rebuilding the lost infrastructure ever since.
Pre-Steam multiplayer infrastructure for an entire generation of console and PC games.
- ↗ Wikipedia: GameSpy
- ↗ Polygon: GameSpy multiplayer servers shut down (2014)
- ↗ Ars Technica: The death of GameSpy and what it means
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