History of alternate reality games

Before 2001: Influences and precursors

Early examples of major ARGs or proto-ARGs prior to 2001

Ong's Hat/Incunabula was most likely started sometime around 1993, and also included most of the aforementioned design principles. Ong's Hat also incorporated elements of legend tripping into its design, as chronicled in a scholarly work titled "Legend-Tripping Online: Supernatural Folklore and the Search for Ong's Hat". Some scholars disagree on the classification of the Ong's Hat story.

In 1996, Wizards of the Coast launched a proto-alternate reality game called Webrunner: The Hidden Agenda to promote their game Netrunner. It cast players as hackers through seven puzzle-themed "gates" to get the secret data ("agenda"). The popular game was the first online game tied into a product release, making the front page of The New York Times technology section. A sequel, Webrunner II: The Forbidden Code, followed on to promote the release of the Proteus expansion of the game.

Dreadnot was a (non-commercial) ARG produced with a grant from the San Francisco Chronicle and published on sfgate.com in 1996. It included most of the aforementioned design principles. The game included working voice mail phone numbers for characters, clues in the source code, character email addresses, off-site websites, real locations in San Francisco, real people (including then-Mayor Willie Brown), and of course a fictional mystery.{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000229151210/http://www.sfgate.com/dreadnot/index.html |archive-date=29 February 2000}}

The Beast and its influence

In 2001, in order to market the movie A.I.: Artificial Intelligence and a planned series of Microsoft computer games based on the film, Microsoft's creative director, Jordan Weisman, and another Microsoft game designer, Elan Lee, conceived of an elaborate murder mystery played out across hundreds of websites, email messages, faxes, fake ads, and voicemail messages. They hired Sean Stewart, an award-winning science-fiction/fantasy author, to write the story. The game, dubbed "the Citizen Kane of online entertainment" by Internet Life,{{cite web |access-date=2007-02-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060822111653/http://www.lamp.edu.au/media/pdf/dena_LAMP3.pdf |archive-date=2006-08-22 |access-date = 2007-02-13 |archive-date = 2007-09-30 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930135857/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1001509,00.html |url-status = dead

2002–2003: Community and genre growth

The years immediately after the Beast saw independent developers who had played it extend the form from a one-time occurrence to a new genre of gaming, and the formation of an ever-growing community devoted to playing, designing and discussing ARGs.

Grassroots development

Under the influence of the Beast and enthusiastic about the power of collaboration, several Cloudmakers came together with the idea that they could create a similar game. The first effort to make an independent Beast-like game, Ravenwatchers, failed,{{cite news |access-date = 2007-02-19 |archive-date = 2006-11-23 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061123070839/http://www.unfiction.com/history/testing-the-waters/ |url-status = live |access-date = 2007-02-19 |archive-date = 2006-01-14 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060114053603/http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,46672,00.html |url-status = live

2004–2006: Massive-scale commercial games and mainstream attention

After the success of the first major entries in the nascent ARG genre, a number of large corporations looked to ARGs to promote both their products, and to add their companies' images by demonstrating their interest in innovative and fan-friendly marketing methods. To create buzz for the launch of the Xbox game Halo 2,{{cite news |access-date = 2007-02-19 |archive-date = 2007-02-02 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070202074841/http://www.argn.com/archive/000050ilovebeescom_link_to_halo_2_release_confirmed.php |url-status = live |access-date=2007-02-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070217110759/http://42entertainment.com/bees.html |archive-date=2007-02-17 |access-date = 2007-02-19 |archive-date = 2006-12-02 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061202001719/http://www.wired.com/news/culture/1,65365-0.html |url-status = live |access-date = 2007-02-19 |archive-date = 2007-03-19 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070319102430/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70F16FD35540C758EDDAB0994DC404482 |url-status = live |access-date = 2007-02-19 |archive-date = 2007-02-02 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070202062914/http://www.argn.com/archive/000172metroid_prime_argishness.php |url-status = live |access-date = 2007-02-19 |archive-date = 2007-02-02 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070202061353/http://www.argn.com/archive/000389i_love_bees_two.php |url-status = live |access-date = 2007-02-19 |archive-date = 2007-02-02 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070202075408/http://www.argn.com/archive/000185ilovebeesinspired_artwork_to_raise_money_for_charity.php |url-status = live |access-date=2007-02-19 |archive-date=2007-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070222181022/http://ilovebeer.org/ |url-status=live |access-date=2007-02-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070226145826/http://www.welovebeef.co.uk/ |archive-date=2007-02-26

The following spring, Audi launched The Art of the Heist to promote its new A3. Roughly a year after I Love Bees, 42 Entertainment produced Last Call Poker, a promotion for Activision's video game Gun. Designed to help modern audiences connect with the Western genre, Last Call Poker centered around a working poker site, held games of "Tombstone Hold 'Em" in cemeteries around the United States—as well as in at least one digital venue, World of Warcraft's own virtual reality cemetery{{cite news |access-date = 2007-02-19 |archive-date = 2007-02-02 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070202072728/http://www.argn.com/archive/000347last_call_poker_pm_chat_transcript.php |url-status = live |access-date=2007-02-19 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130119192232/http://news.cnet.com/Last-Call-Poker-celebrates-cemeteries/2100-1043_3-5963346.html?tag=nefd.top |archive-date=2013-01-19 |url-status=dead

The 2005 videogame Advent Rising had a brief foray into the world of ARGs by launching the "Race to Save Mankind," which would reward the first person to find all hidden symbols within the game $1,000,000. This was later changed to winning several copies of the game instead due to technical issues.

2005–2006: The rise of the self-supporting ARG

The first major attempt (other than EA's failed Majestic) to create a self-supporting ARG was Perplex City, which launched in 2005 after a year's worth of teasers. The ARG offered a $200,000 prize to the first player to locate the buried Receda Cube and was funded by the sale of puzzle cards. The first season of the game ended in January 2007, when Andy Darley found the Receda Cube at Wakerly Great Wood in Northamptonshire, UK. Mind Candy, the production company, has also produced a board game related to the ARG and plans to continue it with a second season beginning March 1, 2007. Whether the model was a success is unknown at this time, although Mind Candy's acceptance of corporate sponsorship and venture capital suggests that the puzzle cards alone are not enough to fully fund the ARG at this time.

2006 onward: New developments

2006 produced less large-scale corporate ARGs than past years, but the ARG form continued to spread and be adapted for promotional uses, as an increasing number of TV shows and movies extended their universes onto the internet through such means as character blogs and ARG-like puzzle trails, and as an increasing number of independent/grassroots games launched, with varying levels of success.{{cite news |access-date = 2007-02-19 |archive-date = 2007-02-19 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070219231455/http://www.argn.com/archive/0005132006_in_review_alternate_reality_gaming.php |url-status = live

2007 got off to a strong start immediately, with Microsoft's Vanishing Point to promote the launch of Windows Vista. The game was designed by 42 Entertainment and, due in part to many large-scale real world events, such as a lavish show at the Bellagio Fountain in Las Vegas as well as a prizes of a trip into space{{cite news |access-date=2007-02-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014184200/http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9011149&intsrc=hm_list |archive-date=2007-10-14 |access-date = 2007-02-19 |archive-date = 2007-03-18 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070318012651/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60F1EF83F5B0C738FDDA80894DF404482&oref=login |url-status = live |access-date = 2007-02-19 |archive-date = 2007-02-16 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070216162329/http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/16680141.htm |url-status = live |access-date = 2007-02-19 |archive-date = 2007-02-18 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070218073800/http://www.adotas.com/2007/02/nine-inch-nails-sparks-web-marketing-conspiracy/ |url-status = live |access-date = 2007-02-19 |archive-date = 2007-02-21 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070221214130/http://www.argn.com/archive/000534dude_wheres_my_monster.php |url-status = live |access-date = 2007-02-19}}

Television tie-ins and "extended experiences"

Even before the development of the ARG genre, television sought to extend the reality of its shows onto the web with websites that treated the world as real, rather than discussing it as fiction. An early example was Fox's Freakylinks, developed by Haxan, creators of the Blair Witch Project, who would later go on to develop the well-known ARGs The Art of the Heist and Who Is Benjamin Stove. Freakylinks employed a website designed to look like it had been created by amateur paranormal enthusiasts to generate internet interest in the show, which gathered a cult following but was canceled after 13 episodes.{{cite web |access-date=2007-02-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070109030603/http://onthebox.netfirms.com/Articles/Freakylinks/Freakylinks.html |archive-date=2007-01-09 |access-date = 2007-02-19 |archive-date = 2007-09-27 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927202811/http://www.unfiction.com/compendium/2002/10/01/alias/ |url-status = live |access-date = 2007-02-19 |archive-date = 2007-09-27 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927202823/http://www.unfiction.com/compendium/2002/09/01/172/ |url-status = live |access-date=2007-02-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070125000116/http://abc.go.com/primetime/push/ |archive-date=2007-01-25 |url-status=dead |access-date = 2007-02-19 |archive-date = 2007-02-02 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070202073952/http://www.argn.com/archive/000317regenesis_relaunch_and_award_nomination.php |url-status = live

In 2006, the TV tie-in ARG began to come into its own when there was a surge of ARGs that extended the worlds of related television shows onto the internet and into the real world. As with Push, Nevada, ABC led the way, launching three TV tie-in ARGs in 2006: Kyle XY,{{cite news |access-date = 2007-02-19 |archive-date = 2007-03-04 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070304094250/http://www.argn.com/archive/000437kyle_xy_why_why_why.php |url-status = live |access-date = 2007-02-19 |archive-date = 2007-04-27 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070427152532/http://www.argn.com/archive/000442its_staring_at_me_mommy_make_the_oculus_stop.php |url-status = live |access-date = 2007-02-19 |archive-date = 2008-03-08 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080308193802/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/01/arts/television/01manl.html?ex=1317355200&en=9a89c6ab5bf568c9&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss |url-status = live

NBC followed suit in January 2007, beginning an ARG for its hit TV series Heroes{{cite news |access-date=2007-02-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070711063909/http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/interactive/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003535631 |archive-date=2007-07-11 |url-status=dead launched through an in-game reference to the website for Primatech Paper, a company from the show, which turned out to be real. Text messages and emails led players who applied for "employment" at the site to secret files on the show's characters.

References

References

1. (31 July 2011). "Legend-Tripping Online: Supernatural Folklore and the Search for Ong's Hat".
2. "ARG versus Legend Tripping".
3. Rothstein, Edward. (February 19, 1996). "Netrunner: Hacking With a Shuffled Deck". [[The New York Times]].
4. Dena, Christy. (20 April 2006). "Top ARGs, With Stats".
5. (2005-05-18). "The Buzzmakers". East Bay Express.
6. (2001-05-15). "Signs of Intelligent Life: A.I.'s mysterious and masterful promotional campaign". Slate.
7. Stewart, Sean. "The A.I. Web Game".
8. "Advent Rising cancels million-dollar contest".
9. (2007-01-24). "I Need a Hero! NBC ventures into ARGish territory with Heroes 360". Alternate Reality Gaming Network.