Wireplay

Associated With

BT - creator and original operator; Gameplay - owner and operator from 1999

Defining Feature

Managed multiplayer matchmaking and game launching over telephone lines

Status

Defunct - original consumer service suspended in August 2001

Overview

Wireplay was BT’s dial-up PC gaming network, matching players for multiplayer games over phone lines.

Compatible games and client software called the managed service by modem, where players could find opponents, issue challenges, join leagues or ladders and launch games. In March 1997, the British service charged 2 pence per minute.

Demonstrated in London in 1995 and probably launched publicly in Britain in June 1996, Wireplay became associated with games including Euro 96, Duke Nukem, Warcraft and Descent II. Licensed services later appeared in parts of the United States and Australia. BT sold Wireplay to Gameplay in 1999, and the original service was suspended in August 2001.

Why It Mattered

It gave dial-up PC players a structured way to find opponents and begin multiplayer matches without arranging their own direct connection first. Waiting-player notices, challenges, leagues, ladders and menu-level launching anticipated features that later became familiar across online-gaming platforms.

Its licensed regional services also show how telecommunications companies tried to build managed gaming networks while proprietary services, direct-modem play and the increasingly open internet were competing for players.

How the Original Network Worked

• Compatible software could direct a modem to call Wireplay over an ordinary telephone line rather than route play through the public internet.
• The managed service provided opponent-finding, challenges, waiting-player notices, leagues or ladders and menu-level game launching.
• In March 1997, the British service charged 2 pence per minute.

Trials, Promotion and Regional Services

• BT demonstrated Wireplay at Live 95 in Earl’s Court in September 1995; a January 1996 newspaper feature described a planned 1,500-person test.
• A three-branch BT and Blockbuster computer-bar pilot operated in Putney, Bayswater and Canterbury.
• MCI and Telstra licensed Wireplay technology for regional services in the United States and Australia.
• Game and promotional associations included Euro 96, EF2000, Duke Nukem, Warcraft, a Descent II demo and Warcraft II shareware.

Ownership, Suspension and Preservation

• Gameplay acquired Wireplay from BT for £5.5 million in 1999, while BT continued supplying network services.
• Gameplay suspended the original service in August 2001 after a proposed subscription model failed and sought a buyer.
• An Arena Technik management team bought the remaining name, software, customer lists and associated technology for £132,500 in September 2001.
• Wireplay software, printed material and official website captures survive.

Gallery