<P> As time - sharing technology matured, it became practical for companies with excess capacity on their expensive computer systems to sell that capacity . Service bureaus such as Tymshare (founded 1966) dedicated to selling time on a single computer to multiple customers sprang up . The customers were typically businesses that did not have the need or money to purchase and manage their own computer systems . </P> <P> In 1979, two time - sharing companies, The Source and CompuServe, began selling access to their systems to individual consumers and small business; this was the beginning of the era of online service providers . While an initial focus of service offerings was the ability for users to run their own programs, over time applications including online chat, electronic mail and BBSs and games became the dominant uses of the systems . For many people, these, rather than the academic and commercial systems available only at universities and technical corporations, were their first exposure to online gaming . </P> <P> In 1984, CompuServe debuted Islands of Kesmai, the first commercial multiplayer online role playing game . Islands of Kesmai used scrolling text (ASCII graphics) on screen to draw maps of player location, depict movement, and so on; the interface is considered Roguelike . At some point, graphical overlay interfaces could be downloaded, putting a slightly more glitzy face on the game . Playing cost was the standard CompuServe connection fee of the time, $6 per hour with a 300 baud modem, $12 for a 1200 baud modem; the game processed one command every 10 seconds, which equates to 1 ​ ⁄ cents per command . </P> <P> The LINKS was an online network launched for the MSX in Japan in 1986 . It featured several graphical multiplayer online games, including T&E Soft's Daiva Dr. Amandora and Super Laydock, Telenet Japan's Girly Block, and Bothtec's Dires . It also featured several downloadable games, including Konami's A1 Grand Prix and Network Rally . </P>

When did the first online game come out