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World Opponent Network
The World Opponent Network (WON or WON.net) was an online video game service, originally developed by Sierra On-Line as the Sierra Internet Gaming System (SIGS). SIGS-based and WON-based servers operated from 1996 until 2008.
WON was used by games such as Homeworld, Half-Life, Outpost 2, Star Trek: Armada, Soldier of Fortune, and Dark Reign 2, the free games Silencer and ARC, as well as the Hoyle series of casino, card and board games.
SIGS began life as a prototype video game, Stock Market Challenge, in 1995. SIGS then moved onto beta testing integration into retail Sierra titles with Hoyle Blackjack in 1996. Before Christmas 1996, SIGS was built into 7 titles: Hoyle Blackjack, Hoyle Casino, Front Page Sports: Football Pro '97, Front Page Sports: Trophy Bass 2, MissionForce: CyberStorm, Power Chess, and The Time Warp of Dr. Brain.
WON was offered as a free service to players who owned WON-enabled retail games, following a business model explicitly designed to mirror Blizzard Entertainment's Battle.net. Rather than charging subscription or hourly fees, WON generated revenue through in-service advertising and by driving incremental retail sales of WON-compatible titles. This approach aligned with Blizzard's strategy for Battle.net, where the service operated profitably on advertising revenue alone while boosting retail game sales by an estimated 10 percent. WON competed for users alongside other online gaming services of the era including Battle.net, MPlayer, Heat.net, and the Total Entertainment Network.
SIGS operated from late 1996 through November 1997 and was built into about 20 Sierra titles by this time. On November 18, 1997, after Sierra was acquired by CUC International, CUC announced that they will rebrand SIGS as WON as of December 1, 1997. On December 8, 1997, the open beta of the new WON website was launched. WON left beta and was officially launched on April 13, 1998.
In an apparent effort to boost WON awareness with off-the-shelf customers, Sierra released On-Line Games: Collection Series late in 1997 that contained 12 online titles (9 WON-enabled games, 2 WON.net browser-based games, plus The Realm).
WON touted its success when it announced 750,000 members on September 2, 1998. Just 6 months later in March 1999, WON claimed to have doubled their membership to 1.5 million, along with now attracting 1% of the WWW audience for February 1999, placing them in the top 500 websites and top 10 gaming sites.
WON attracted a few partnerships with significant third parties to become a multi-developer/multi-publisher service. On May 27, 1997, Sierra announced an agreement with Valve to publish and distribute Half-Life, which would bring it to WON when finally released in November 1998. On May 27, 1998, WON announced an agreement with GT Interactive and Epic MegaGames to bring Unreal to WON. On September 7, 1999, WON.net announced an agreement with Activision to bring a few of its multiplayer titles, including Soldier of Fortune, to WON.net.
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World Opponent Network AI simulator
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World Opponent Network
The World Opponent Network (WON or WON.net) was an online video game service, originally developed by Sierra On-Line as the Sierra Internet Gaming System (SIGS). SIGS-based and WON-based servers operated from 1996 until 2008.
WON was used by games such as Homeworld, Half-Life, Outpost 2, Star Trek: Armada, Soldier of Fortune, and Dark Reign 2, the free games Silencer and ARC, as well as the Hoyle series of casino, card and board games.
SIGS began life as a prototype video game, Stock Market Challenge, in 1995. SIGS then moved onto beta testing integration into retail Sierra titles with Hoyle Blackjack in 1996. Before Christmas 1996, SIGS was built into 7 titles: Hoyle Blackjack, Hoyle Casino, Front Page Sports: Football Pro '97, Front Page Sports: Trophy Bass 2, MissionForce: CyberStorm, Power Chess, and The Time Warp of Dr. Brain.
WON was offered as a free service to players who owned WON-enabled retail games, following a business model explicitly designed to mirror Blizzard Entertainment's Battle.net. Rather than charging subscription or hourly fees, WON generated revenue through in-service advertising and by driving incremental retail sales of WON-compatible titles. This approach aligned with Blizzard's strategy for Battle.net, where the service operated profitably on advertising revenue alone while boosting retail game sales by an estimated 10 percent. WON competed for users alongside other online gaming services of the era including Battle.net, MPlayer, Heat.net, and the Total Entertainment Network.
SIGS operated from late 1996 through November 1997 and was built into about 20 Sierra titles by this time. On November 18, 1997, after Sierra was acquired by CUC International, CUC announced that they will rebrand SIGS as WON as of December 1, 1997. On December 8, 1997, the open beta of the new WON website was launched. WON left beta and was officially launched on April 13, 1998.
In an apparent effort to boost WON awareness with off-the-shelf customers, Sierra released On-Line Games: Collection Series late in 1997 that contained 12 online titles (9 WON-enabled games, 2 WON.net browser-based games, plus The Realm).
WON touted its success when it announced 750,000 members on September 2, 1998. Just 6 months later in March 1999, WON claimed to have doubled their membership to 1.5 million, along with now attracting 1% of the WWW audience for February 1999, placing them in the top 500 websites and top 10 gaming sites.
WON attracted a few partnerships with significant third parties to become a multi-developer/multi-publisher service. On May 27, 1997, Sierra announced an agreement with Valve to publish and distribute Half-Life, which would bring it to WON when finally released in November 1998. On May 27, 1998, WON announced an agreement with GT Interactive and Epic MegaGames to bring Unreal to WON. On September 7, 1999, WON.net announced an agreement with Activision to bring a few of its multiplayer titles, including Soldier of Fortune, to WON.net.