2001

BotFighters

2001 video game

Released: 2001
Platforms: Java virtual machine
Genres: —
Developers: —
Publishers: —

About

BotFighters is a location-based mobile game and a pervasive game, developed by It's Alive Mobile Games AB! (acquired by Digiment in 2007) designed to be a MMORPG played in an urban environment. It was possibly the world's first commercial location-based game. It was first released in Sweden on 14 March 2001, and later in Russia, Finland, Ireland and China.

In 2002, it was awarded with an Award of Distinction, Net Vision category in the Prix Ars Electronica.

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

BotFighters was a location-based mobile game and a pervasive game, that made use of the positioning technology of a mobile phone in playing the game. Players created and equipped robot avatars on the game's website, then used SMS commands on their phones to search for nearby opponents and attack when they were within range.