3500 BC

Egyptians are playing the board game Senet

1952

PhD student A. S. Douglas develops a version of Noughts and Crosses for the EDSAC computer at the University of Cambridge.

1954

Physicist William Higinbotham runs the electronic (but non-computerized) game Tennis For Two as a demonstration tool at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York.

1961

Steven Russell and friends develop the two-player space shooter Spacewar at MIT.

1971

The first arcade game, Computer Space, is released. The game, inspired by Spacewar, is not a great success, most likely because it is too difficult to play.

1972

Influential early game developer Atari is founded in California.
Atari releases the Pong arcade game which is hugely successful
Magnavox launches the Odyssey console
Hunt the Wumpus

1974

The Dungeons & Dragons table-top role-playing game is commercially launched.

1976

Night Driver
Death Race
Adventure

1977

Atari launches the Video Computer System, one of the first game consoles to use cartridges (and thus being able of playing games not built into the system). The machine later becomes known as the Atari 2600.

1978

Space Invaders
Empire

1979

Asteroids
Galaxian
Mystery House

1980

Battlezone
Pac-Man
Defender
Zork
Space Panic
Ultima
MUD (first persistent online multiplayer game)

1982

Microsoft Flight Simulator

1983

Dragon's Lair
Mario Bros.
Elite
Nintendo's Famicom console (to be known in the West as the Nintendo Entertainment System) is launched in Japan

1984

A severe crash in sales, beginning the year before, leads many to doubt the future of the game industry
King's Quest

1985

Mary Ann Buckles writes PhD dissertation entitled Interactive Fiction: The Computer Storygame 'Adventure'
Tetris
Gauntlet
Balance of Power
Habitat

1986

The Nintendo Entertainment System is launched in the US
The Sega Master System console is launched
Meridian 59

1987

Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards
Maniac Mansion
Ultima Online

1989

Nintendo launches the Game Boy handheld console
The Sega Genesis console is launched
Herzog Zwei
SimCity

1990

The Secret of Monkey Island

1991

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System console is launched
Sid Meier's Civilization

1992

Wolfenstein 3D
Mortal Kombat
Dune II

1993

Doom
The 7th Guest

1994

Myst
The Entertainment Software Rating Board is created
Sony's PlayStation console is launched in Japan (to be launched in the US the following year)

1995

The Nintendo 64 console is launched in Japan (to be launched in the US the following year)

1996

Tomb Raider

1998

Sega's Dreamcast console is launched in Japan
Dance Dance Revolution

1999

The Columbine High School shootings lead to increased worry over violent video games
EverQuest

2000

Sony's PlayStation 2 console is launched in the US
The Sims

2001

Grand Theft Auto 3
Microsoft launches the Xbox console
The peer-reviewed Game Studies: The International Journal of Game Studies is launched

2003

First large-scale international conference of DiGRA, the Digital Games Research Association is held

2004

Nintendo launches the Nintendo DS handheld console
World of Warcraft

2005

Sony launches the PlayStation Portable handheld console
Microsoft launches the Xbox 360 console

2006

Sony launches the PlayStation 3 console
Nintendo launches the Wii console
The peer-reviewed Games and Culture journal is launched

2007

Halo 3 is launched and becomes the fastest selling game in history