Festivals for gamers: how LAN parties have changed

From Quake to Valorant. From null modem cables to Wi-Fi. From niche interest into the spotlight: LAN parties in 2023 are very different to ones 30 years ago. More professional. Much bigger. More competitive. Let us gaze into the past and chart the evolution of LAN parties in Switzerland.

The history of LAN parties begins in the early 1990s. Online games only run via slow and shaky dial-up connections. Your only other options for playing against someone are either split-screen or a cabled connection. So for tournaments and shared gaming fun, players set up their PCs at a friend’s house or at a venue and connect devices to each other directly. And so, the first few privately organised LAN parties are born around the world.

From basements to halls

One of the first public gaming events in Switzerland takes place on 19 March, 1995, in the function hall of the Don Camillo restaurant in Berne. A shattering 180 gamers take part in the Doom tournament Doomsday.

Spurred on by positive feedback, organisers André «Rayden» Christen and Oliver «Sinclair» Eigenberger organise the Netgame Convention for 18 participants the same year. The first of over 50 Netgame LANs (as of 2023) and the first public LAN party in Switzerland. Soon Netgame takes place several times a year and other organisers quickly set up their own LAN parties.

Early on, first-person shooters prove the most popular LAN games: at first Doom and Duke Nukem 3D are among the biggest tournament games, followed by Quake and Unreal Tournament. But racing games like Need for Speed are also popular with their multiplayer features. With Command & Conquer, and later Age of Empires, Age of Mythology and Starcraft, real-time strategy games also enjoy great popularity.

The LAN party goldmine

Setting up a LAN party takes time. It can take half a day for all the connections to be established and any problems to be rectified. But the beige computer cases and hefty CRT monitors aren’t only used for gaming.

Remember: in the 1990s, the internet was in its infancy. Music plays from cassettes and CDs, movies use VHS and later DVD, and even games can be bought as CD-ROMs. Purchasing these media formats can prove quite the strain to your wallet. But some skilled IT whizzes have already spent their savings on a powerful PC, and LAN parties become their all-you-can-eat buffets. Visitors copy games, movies, shows and even porn – so-called warez – from other computers in the local network.

The golden age and the decline

In 2000, the Mega Netgame Convention takes place at Hotel Schweizerhof in Bern. With 311 participants, the largest Swiss LAN party to date heralds the boom period. Three years later, 1,500 gamers make the pilgrimage to Lanforce 5 in Bern. And in 2006, Airport LAN at Zurich Airport attracts 1,200 visitors. During the golden age, up to 130 LANs take place in Switzerland every year. Rayden organises a whole four Netgames in some years. Gamers are spoiled for choice as to where they want to lug their setup every weekend. Sponsors such as HP, Microsoft, World of Games and Migros support the events.

But technology is catching up with LAN. Broadband internet is finding its way into gamers’ homes. It allows a wide player base to game online with and against each other. Why drag your PC to a LAN party when a home connection can do just as much?
From the mid-2000s onwards, Swiss LANs record declining participant numbers, and some go out of business altogether. Only one Netgame takes place this year too. By 2010, LAN parties lie dormant and only hardcore passionate enthusiasts keep gaming parties alive.

The Return of the LAN Party

After years of isolation, many gamers miss meeting their mates in person. Hugging, high-fiving, toasting, and sharing a shisha – none of that is possible over Teamspeak. And so, starting in the early 2010s, gamers start attending LANs again. Many value being together more than playing itself. LANs become festivals for gamers: there’s drinking, dancing, singing, pot, flunkyball and beer pong. What sets these events apart from traditional parties is that they’re peaceful across the board. In his 30 years doing LANs, Rayden has only once had to kick someone from an event. He’s never experienced a fight.

The e-sports hype with international competitions and packed stadiums rubs off on LAN parties. Sponsors start poking around again. Companies support parties financially or with non-cash prizes – above all the IT industry, which sees young gamers as the IT leaders of the future. With Polylan, even the university EPFL has been running its own LAN party since 2004. Initially, 200 to 300 participants show up, but from 2014 on Polylan grows to include 800, 1,000 and 1,300 gamers. Events are now more professionally organised and receive more media attention.

2014 also marks the birth of Switzerlan. At first, Berne’s Exhibition Centre has room for around 200 gamers. But in the following years, Switzerlan grows to over 2,000 available seats and becomes an annual highlight for many Swiss gamers. At times it’s the largest LAN party in the German-speaking world, with attendees from Germany, France, Austria and Italy.

At the same time, dozens of private and smaller public LANs take place across Switzerland every year. They’re called Butterlan, Lock & Load, Isle of LAN, Eevent, Odyssey, Le-LAN or Turicane. Some sell 20 tickets, some 200 – there’s something for every taste and (almost) every region. But what they all share is the passion, dedication and creativity of organisers – practically all of them run LANs in their free time.

Changes in the LAN world: demands and performance increase

The gaming market has been growing steadily since the mid-noughties. Video games have moved into the mainstream and demand for LAN parties has increased. Even in Switzerland.

Events are getting bigger, organisers are raising ticket prices and paying out more prize money in return. Growing events have to meet increasing demands. A stable, high-performance internet connection is a basic requirement. Hot meals are often expected and Securitas provides, well, security. Escape routes are labelled, sponsors provide financial support, rule books are written for tournaments.

Not only demands on events have changed, the main activities have too. New games have emerged in tournament form. The Starcrafts and Dooms of yesterday are now League of Legends, Overwatch and Rocket League. Niche tournaments are still run for older games, out of nostalgia. The exchange of warez has disappeared completely; after all, you’ll find copies of every game or movie under the sun on various dubious websites today.

What has stayed the same since 1995?

If you click through archive photos of old LANs, a few things will stand out: even back then, pizza boxes, Migros iced teas, beer cans and energy drinks framed the visitors’ monitors. You’ll see the same today – even though the screens have become slimmer. On the monitors themselves, Counter Strike is probably the big constant. The first-person shooter has been reliably creating sweat and clutch moments at LAN parties since 2000. No other game – sequels included – has held up so well.

What I still feel after almost thirty years is the spirit of LAN parties. Participants spend a weekend fully immersed in the world of gaming and devote themselves fervently to their passion. For my part, the first step into a LAN hall always feels like coming home. LANs act as a safe space for a hive mind of like-minded gamers to exchange ideas and compete without compromise. At a LAN, everyone is allowed to be who they are. I’ve never experienced a more honest and inclusive community that simply welcomes all, regardless of gender identity, background or political affiliation.

In the conversations I have with LAN visitors and organisers, one common trait always emerges: all of them continue attending LANs – not because of the games, but because of the people. LAN acquaintances become good friends, and now and then romantic relationships develop. After all, every PC dragged to a LAN party also has a human being attached to it. And in the end, they’ll be at least as interesting as anything a sparkly LED box will ever come up with.

Switzerlan will be held in parallel with Herofest in Berne from 12-15 October 12. Digitec will also be attending Herofest. Here’s what you can expect at our booth and on the big Playground stage: