1vs100 Might Be Coming Back And I Could Not Be Happier

10/25/20 11:10am

It has been over 10 years since 1vs100 released into a public test on the Xbox360. 10 long years for those of us who have been calling on Microsoft to bring it back.

If you're not familiar with the game, or the television show it was based on, here's the gist: 1vs100 was a massively multiplayer online trivia game on the Xbox360. The game incorporated live events with a real host and real money prizes, most frequently Microsoft Points. Live shows ran on a weekly schedule. Typically 3 times a week a Live show would take place. Chris Cashman was the host in the U.S.. while James McCourt was the host in the U.K..

The name 1vs100 is relevant because during the Live shows a single member of the audience was randomly selected to play as "The One," while 100 other audience members were part of "The Mob." The rest of the crowd were, well, referred to as "The Crowd." After each question The One, The Mob, and The Crowd would be eliminated if they answered the question wrong. If The One was eliminated any prize money accrued would be split up and given to any remaining members of The Mob. While you would be considered "eliminated" for a wrong answer, as long as you were not The One you were still able to take part and accrue game points. If The One answers incorrectly, the game ends and a new One is chosen until the showtime has elapsed.

You might be asking why this is making headlines right now, or why anyone cares about a little trivia game. You can thank Phil Spencer for implanting us the idea that us fantanics may see it once again. But let me tell you, it was not a little trivia game. In it's limited run, 1vs100 was installed more than 2.5million times and had a concurrent minimum player count of 15,000 (based on my memory of playing in the early morning.) When Live shows came on, concurrent player counts exceeded 150,000. U.S. and U.K. broadcasts were separated, thus I can only recollect the U.S. numbers.

As I was saying, 1vs100 was more than just a game. It's a gamenight game that actually brought families and friends together. In 2009 there weren't many games that you could sit your non-gamer parents/friends down, tell them all they need to know was 3-4 buttons, and they could play. I managed to get my parents to play when the Live shows came on. After each night, we all became more an more excited for the next "episode." We bonded. I have always been close with my parents, but I know that many struggle to find some way to connect. In the last 10 years of waiting for any glimmer of hope of the game's return, I have spoken with a few people and their experience. While I cannot quote them exactly, I can say that they too were helped by the game to really get to know one another. Whether it was them and their parents or a friend. Random trivia can bring up a lot of "Get to know you" discussions as well as bring out jokes and just general fun.

A user on twitter replies to a tweet from Mike Ybarra @Qwik (Formerly CVP of Xbox)

This is why, for this entire time, I have been hoping that Microsoft would hear us. That they see the potential of a true family game that wasn't just great for family. It was great for everyone.

Thank you, Phil Spencer. Thank you for even giving us hope that we may one day see the revival or something like it. Especially in the hard times we are going through right now.