The evolution of game aggregators

Imagine this: It’s 1985, Malta. You’re in Paceville, the heart of the island’s nightlife, and you’ve just dropped a 50-pence coin into a shiny new arcade machine. The clunk, clunk, clunk of the coin slot is music to your ears as you’re transported to another world. Fast forward to 2021, and that clunk has been replaced by a click – the click of a mouse, or the tap of a screen. Welcome to the evolution of game aggregators, Malta style.

In the late 90s and early 2000s, as the internet began to creep into Maltese homes, the first wave of game aggregators arrived. These were the dial-up days, and games were downloaded from platforms like AOL or CompuServe. Local internet cafes, like the now-defunct CyberCity in St. Julian’s, were hubs of activity. Here, players could access these aggregators, downloading games like Age of Empires or Command & Conquer onto their floppy disks.

But it wasn’t just about the games. These aggregators also aggregated communities. Players would gather, not just to play, but to share strategies, cheat codes, and laughter. It was a social experience, even if it was through the hum of a dial-up connection.

Then came the mobile revolution. Suddenly, games weren’t confined to desktops or internet cafes. They were in our pockets, on our phones. And with them, came a new breed of aggregators – the app stores. Apple’s App Store launched in 2008, followed by Google Play in 2008. In Malta, this meant games like Angry Birds and Candy Crush weren’t just popular, they were ubiquitous.

Local developers also started making waves. Apps like ‘Malta Quiz’ by local developer Mario Debono, or games like ‘Island of Secrets’ by St. Julian’s-based studio, Paladin Studios, found their way onto these aggregators. It was a new era, where Maltese games were just a tap away, anywhere in the world.

Today, we’re in the midst of another shift – the rise of cloud gaming. Platforms like Google Stadia, Nvidia GeForce Now, and even Xbox Cloud Gaming are changing the game again. Now, you don’t even need a powerful gaming PC or console. You just need an internet connection. And in Malta, where broadband penetration is one of the highest in the EU, that’s not a big ask.

Take, for example, the new Microsoft Experience Center in Sliema. Here, you can walk in, pick up an Xbox Wireless Controller, and start playing high-end games like Forza Horizon 4 or Gears 5, all thanks to the cloud. It’s a far cry from the clunk of a coin slot in Paceville.

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