[QUESTION] Tracing the history of Agario

[pecopecoros]

Hi Guys, I'm researching viral growth in games and wanted to do a bit more digging on the explosive growth of Agario in 2015, culminating with the game entering the public consciousness through its spot on House of Cards. 

I came across the game at the end of July 2015 through a friend, but by this time, the game already had an established following on web through word of mouth, various youtube streamers, and other social media sites.
 
So far, I've been able to construct the following timeline:
April 28th: Matheus Valaderes launches the game on Agar.io following a suggestion off /v/ on 4chan
April 29th: /r/Agario is created on Reddit
May 2nd: Let's Play streamer ZeRoyalViking plays the game
May 3rd: Agario is submitted to Steam Greenlight and quickly approved
Rest of May: Game is picked up by numerous streamers / news outlets
May 30th: 1st Pewdiepie video on youtube
June 23rd: Markiplier video on youtube
June 30th: Agarioforums.net created
July 9th: Miniclip releases mobile port (iOS/Android simultanous release)
 
How and when did you guys find out about Agario?

(I'm posting this on Reddit too in order to get more responses; sorry if you're seeing this more than once!

[run SPOT run]

I cant remember exactly when I found out about agario, but it was sometime in June of 2015. My kids were the ones to introduce me to the game. After a few months of playing, I decided to seek out other players that were as interested in the game as I was, and found my way here!

[Horizon]

(10-19-2016, 08:46 PM)pecopecoros Wrote: Hi Guys, I'm researching viral growth in games and wanted to do a bit more digging on the explosive growth of Agario in 2015, culminating with the game entering the public consciousness through its spot on House of Cards. 

I came across the game at the end of July 2015 through a friend, but by this time, the game already had an established following on web through word of mouth, various youtube streamers, and other social media sites.
 
So far, I've been able to construct the following timeline:
April 28th: Matheus Valaderes launches the game on Agar.io following a suggestion off /v/ on 4chan
April 29th: /r/Agario is created on Reddit
May 2nd: Let's Play streamer ZeRoyalViking plays the game
May 3rd: Agario is submitted to Steam Greenlight and quickly approved
Rest of May: Game is picked up by numerous streamers / news outlets
May 30th: 1st Pewdiepie video on youtube
June 23rd: Markiplier video on youtube
June 30th: Agarioforums.net created
July 9th: Miniclip releases mobile port (iOS/Android simultanous release)
 
How and when did you guys find out about Agario?

(I'm posting this on Reddit too in order to get more responses; sorry if you're seeing this more than once!

I found out at school, actually, one of my friends showed me on the last day!

[Reaction]

I discovered agar.io in March, I'm am now on level 48, and a super extra extra extra pro! O also react fast. REACTION!!!!

[MUSALLAT]

I have Same problem..

[Squirrel]

(10-19-2016, 08:46 PM)pecopecoros Wrote: How and when did you guys find out about Agario?

(I'm posting this on Reddit too in order to get more responses; sorry if you're seeing this more than once!

I don't use Reddit at all, so your methodology is sound.

I first heard of the game, watching my son watch a 'JackSepticEye' video.

Despite Jack's funny commentary, and view on gaming, I consider my discovering agar.io (maybe Sept 2015?) to be the best thing that came of his watching that channel.

It is a simplistic game, and they continue to monetize it for ad space quite well. The 'war on bots' is really their only huge challenge. But it's bound to be a transient game.

I myself only took it up, because I had no other game to play during the time.

I went looking for a human interaction element to the game (Forums) in late March/early April of this year, and am so glad that I did.

[™ Chronic]

My grand daughter turned me on to Agar.io FFA about 6  or more months ago. I played for a bit but got bored quickly. To slow for me. ...zzzz. Didn't know what  a bot was so I googled it hoping some how it would liven up the game. Came across Agarioforums and AGF. Not sure in which order but I remember seeing the game and was a bit intimidated. But jumped into the game anyway and the forum and became addicted.  My granddaughter found it a couple years ago while searching for games for her Ipad. Hope that helps.