Editing Multiplayer video game (section)

==Asynchronous multiplayer==
Asynchronous multiplayer is a form of multiplayer gameplay where players are not necessarily playing at the same time.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kelly|first=Tadhg|title=Opinion: Synchronous or Asynchronous Gameplay|url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/opinion-synchronous-or-asynchronous-gameplay|access-date=2021-04-16|website=www.gamasutra.com|date=9 August 2011|language=en}}</ref> This form of multiplayer game has its origins in [[play-by-mail game]]s, where players would send their moves through [[postal mail]] to a game master, who then would compile and send out results for the next turn. Play-by-mail games transitioned to electronic form as play-by-email games.<ref>{{cite book | last = Nicolau | first = Gaspar Pujol | chapter = Enriching online board games: an anthropological perspective | title = Videogame Cultures and the Future of Interactive Entertainment | pages = 1–10 | publisher = Brill | year = 2010 }}</ref> Similar games were developed for [[bulletin board system]]s, such as ''[[Trade Wars]]'', where the turn structure may not be as rigorous and allow players to take actions at any time in a persistence space alongside all other players, a concept known as sporadic play.<ref name="sporadic play gdc"/>

These types of asynchronous multiplayer games waned with the widespread availability of the Internet which allowed players to play against each other simultaneously, but remains an option in many strategy-related games, such as the [[Civilization (series)|''Civilization'' series]]. Coordination of turns are subsequently managed by one computer or a centralized server. Further, many [[mobile game]]s are based on sporadic play and use [[social network game|social interactions with other players]], lacking direct player versus player game modes but allowing players to influence other players' games, coordinated through central game servers, another facet of asynchronous play.<ref name="sporadic play gdc">{{cite conference |title = Sporadic-Play Game Update | first1 = Bryan | last1 = Cash | first2 = Jeremy | last2= Gibson | conference = 2010 [[Game Developers Conference]] | date = October 5–8, 2010 | publisher = [[Game Developers Conference]] }}</ref>