Clan

A clan refers to a group of gamers who form a team to compete against others over the Internet in multiplayer games. Clans choose their team name and will usually set up an initiation process for interested gamers to join their clan via the Internet. Clans use Internet communications such as e-mail, instant messaging, IRC or Internet telephony to communicate and arrange their practices and matches. While a clan is usually focused on one specific multiplayergame, some clans do have divisions to support more than one game.

Clans first became popular in 1996 when id Software released its multiplayer game, Quake. For many years after the release of Quake, clans revolved around multiplayer PC shooter games. With the online multiplayer capabilities of newer consoles however, clans have sprung up for console games which can be played over the Internetas well.

In an MMORPG the team or group of gamers is called a guild, rather than a clan.

Vangie Beal
Vangie Beal
Vangie Beal is a freelance business and technology writer covering Internet technologies and online business since the late '90s.
Get the Free Newsletter
Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
This email address is invalid.
Get the Free Newsletter
Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
This email address is invalid.

Related Articles

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

A virtual private network (VPN) encrypts a device's Internet access through a secure server. It is most frequently used for remote employees accessing a...

Gantt Chart

A Gantt chart is a type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule and shows the dependency between tasks and the current schedule...

Input Sanitization

Input sanitization is a cybersecurity measure of checking, cleaning, and filtering data inputs from users, APIs, and web services of any unwanted characters and...

IT Asset Management Software

IT asset management software (ITAM software) is an application for organizing, recording, and tracking all of an organization s hardware and software assets throughout...

ScalaHosting

ScalaHosting is a leading managed hosting provider that offers secure, scalable, and affordable...

HRIS

Human resources information system (HRIS) solutions help businesses manage multiple facets of their...

Best Managed Service Providers...

In today's business world, managed services are more critical than ever. They can...