this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2024
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You don't need dedicated servers for online multiplayer. Locally hosting games used to be the norm.
You don't need them, but it's much more desirable. A lot of PC multiplayer games run dedicated servers which someone pays for.
You don't need to pay for your own dedicated server on PC either. You can do that for free, on your own computer, in your own house. Somehow game companies managed to convince people that all this has to be paid for. It's just rent seeking behavior.
I don't think it was the games companies that convinced people. There's always been a demand. There's a hell of a lot of games server hosting companies out there making money.
Yeah, you can host a game of CS for your friends, but do you really want to host a 200 player Rust server that needs 24/7 uptime on your home PC?
Would you rather have an unstable dedicated server running on someone's home PC, or a stable paid for server that is up 24/7? It's always been possible to run your own dedicated servers, but 3rd party hosting has always been there too, for good reason.