Until recently, online games were considered a niche market for the most isolated members of the gaming community.

However, online PC games, such as the fantasy role-playing Everquest, which is played by about 500,000 people every week, have proved just how profitable dragon-slaying and treasure-hunting can be.

It appears, while single-player games are fun, two-player games are more fun and massively multiplayer games are so much fun people are willing to spend most of their lives and money online.

Led by games like Everquest, Ultima Online and Asheron's Call, the number of paying subscribers to internet games now exceeds one million worldwide.

Screen Digest forecasts this will grow to seven million by the end of 2006, including 1.4 million in Europe.

European Everquest servers went online last week.

As many observers describe the game as "Evercrack", it's a safe bet to assume the craze will continue to spread.

For the first time proper console games are getting a slice of the pie. Not surprising when you consider the European Leisure Software Publishers' Association (Elspa) estimates online services for the three consoles will generate £1.6 billion by 2006.

Elspa director general Roger Bennett said: "While the traditional bricks and mortar games market will continue to grow, the development of wireless gaming, interactive TV, streaming, online console gaming and internet games enables publishers literally to think outside the box.

"They have huge opportunities to develop new revenue streams and, most importantly, to maximise sales for their existing intellectual properties. Publishers will be able to reach out to a more diverse gaming audience, offering more opportunities to play across a wider range of platforms.

"The future is good for the industry and good for gamers too."

Online games for Game Cube owners are coming. But we don't know where, when and how.

Xbox Live, Microsoft's online gaming service, will be launched in eight European countries on March 14, exactly one year after the console made is debut on the High Street.

The service will enable video game fans to play games with and against each other across Europe.

It will cost £39 and includes a headset, so gamers can talk to each other while playing, two games and a 12-month subscription.

Microsoft is investing about £1.3 billion in the next five years into online gaming and if first person shoot-'em-up (FPS) Halo, one of the greatest games ever, wasn't already a good enough reason for logging on, titles like Unreal Championship (another FPS) should be.

Sony, which is the market leader with 40 million PlayStation 2 (PS2) consoles worldwide, has already launched online gaming in the United States and Japan.

SOCOM: US Navy Seals, the first online console game with voice communication between players, has become an instant US hit and in Japan there are more than 100,000 PS2 connected consoles.

Sony has said the PlayStation 2 broadband network would be launched in the UK, before the rest of Europe, in the spring.

A broadband gaming pack, which includes a network adapter, an online game and a start-up disc featuring demos of upcoming games, will retail at £44.99.

There is one common factor, or rather problem - broadband.

Broadband connections, which are needed for the consoles' highspeed online gameplay, are few and far between around Europe and the UK's much vaunted broadband revolution is far from complete.

But, if you have broadband, online games are going to change the way you play forever.

*www.everquest-europe.com
*www.elspa.com
*www.nintendogamecubexeurope.com
*www.xbox.com/uk
*uk.playstation.com