Slither.io

The 200th page added on the wiki! Slither.io is a web browser mouse movement based game that centers around strategy and timing, by LowTech Enterprises, unlike it’s predecessor: Agar.io. (And a few other .IO games such as Diep.io or Deeeep.io. It is the fifth game to be adapted by GameToons.

History
According to game creator Steven Howse, he was inspired to create the game while he was experiencing financial problems. As a result of these financial issues, he had to move from Minneapolis to Michigan, where he realized the popularity of Agar.io. He had long wanted to create an online multiplayer game, but the only option for the development at the time was in Adobe Flash, and not wanting to use this method, he gave up the idea for a while. Howse finally created the game when he realized that WebSocket, a low-latency protocol supported by most major browsers, was sufficient and stable enough to run an HTML game similar to other games such as Agar.io. The most difficult part of the development was in making each server stable enough to handle 600 players at a time. Howse struggled to find space on servers with enough space in regions where there was more demand and tried to avoid cloud services like Amazon Web Services, owing to the high cost that these services would incur based on the amount of bandwidth used.

After six months of development, Slither.io was released for browsers and iOS on March 25, 2016, with servers supporting up to 500 players. Two days after the iOS/browser versions' release, an Android version was made available by Lowtech Studios. The only way Howse could make revenue was to display advertising in the app after the player's worm died; this option could be removed for $3.99. He chose not to sell virtual currency or power-ups so that those who paid would not have an advantage over players who did not. As there was no money to advertise for the game, the only way to promote the game was the various let's plays by players on YouTube, including PewDiePie, who had more than 47 million subscribers at the time. The success of the game would cause Raw Thrills to develop an arcade version a few years later.

In the weeks following the release, Howse worked on updates to stabilize the game and provide a better experience for players.In addition, he plans to add new features, such as a "friendly mode" that allows people to set up teams, and a way for the player to choose a server to play on. Howse said that two major gaming companies had approached him to buy Slither.io. He had considered the idea, since he felt that it was stressful to maintain the game.