<s>
Air	B-Application
Warrior	I-Application
was	O
a	O
multiplayer	B-Application
online	O
combat	O
flight	O
simulation	O
game	O
launched	O
by	O
Kesmai	B-Application
in	O
1987	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
hosted	O
on	O
GEnie	B-Language
and	O
used	O
that	O
service	O
as	O
a	O
server	O
for	O
client	O
software	O
running	O
on	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
personal	B-Device
computers	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
underwent	O
continual	O
improvement	O
through	O
its	O
decade-long	O
lifetime	O
with	O
Kesmai	B-Application
,	O
appearing	O
on	O
new	O
platforms	O
and	O
host	O
services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Electronic	O
Arts	O
purchased	O
Air	B-Application
Warrior	I-Application
in	O
1999	O
,	O
and	O
became	O
provider	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
was	O
discontinued	O
in	O
2001	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sequels	O
Air	B-Application
Warrior	I-Application
II	I-Application
and	O
Air	B-Application
Warrior	I-Application
III	I-Application
were	O
both	O
released	O
in	O
1997	O
and	O
published	O
by	O
Interactive	O
Magic	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Air	B-Application
Warrior	I-Application
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
massive	O
online	O
games	O
,	O
hosting	O
hundreds	O
of	O
users	O
during	O
busy	O
periods	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
inspired	O
WarBirds	B-Protocol
,	O
which	O
in	O
turn	O
inspired	O
Aces	B-Protocol
High	I-Protocol
,	O
while	O
other	O
members	O
of	O
the	O
Warbirds	B-Protocol
team	O
went	O
on	O
to	O
produce	O
World	B-Application
War	I-Application
II	I-Application
Online	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Today	O
there	O
are	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
similar	O
games	O
,	O
like	O
WarThunder	B-Application
,	O
most	O
of	O
them	O
based	O
on	O
a	O
freemium	O
model	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Introduced	O
in	O
1988	O
by	O
Kesmai	B-Application
,	O
Air	B-Application
Warrior	I-Application
was	O
played	O
over	O
modems	O
and	O
hosted	O
on	O
the	O
GEnie	B-Language
online	O
service	O
provider	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Players	O
could	O
choose	O
one	O
of	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
World	O
War	O
II	O
aircraft	O
to	O
fly	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
ground	O
vehicles	O
,	O
and	O
play	O
in	O
a	O
multiplayer	B-Application
"	O
arena	O
"	O
with	O
hundreds	O
of	O
other	O
players	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
version	O
of	O
Air	B-Application
Warrior	I-Application
ran	O
on	O
Apple	B-Device
Macintosh	I-Device
,	O
Commodore	B-Device
Amiga	I-Device
,	O
and	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
computers	O
,	O
had	O
simple	O
black	O
and	O
white	O
wireframe	O
graphics	O
,	O
and	O
cost	O
over	O
$10	O
per	O
hour	O
to	O
play	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Over	O
time	O
,	O
Kesmai	B-Application
produced	O
improved	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
starting	O
with	O
SVGA	O
Air	B-Application
Warrior	I-Application
in	O
1993	O
,	O
and	O
continuing	O
with	O
Air	B-Application
Warrior	I-Application
for	O
Windows	B-Application
in	O
1996	O
,	O
Air	B-Application
Warrior	I-Application
II	I-Application
in	O
early	O
1997	O
,	O
Air	B-Application
Warrior	I-Application
III	I-Application
later	O
in	O
1997	O
,	O
and	O
finally	O
Air	B-Application
Warrior	I-Application
III	I-Application
Millennium	O
Version	O
in	O
2000	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Development	O
of	O
Air	B-Application
Warrior	I-Application
II	I-Application
was	O
directly	O
overseen	O
by	O
Bill	O
Stealey	O
,	O
founder	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
publisher	O
,	O
Interactive	O
Magic	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kesmai	B-Application
also	O
did	O
business	O
deals	O
to	O
provide	O
access	O
to	O
Air	B-Application
Warrior	I-Application
through	O
additional	O
on-line	O
services	O
,	O
including	O
Delphi	O
,	O
CRIS	O
,	O
CompuServe	O
,	O
America	O
Online	O
,	O
Earthlink	O
,	O
Gamestorm	O
and	O
CompuLink	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
version	O
of	O
Air	B-Application
Warrior	I-Application
for	O
Windows	B-Application
was	O
ported	O
back	O
to	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
in	O
1997	O
in	O
an	O
Internet	O
open	O
beta	O
,	O
and	O
then	O
later	O
moved	O
to	O
America	O
Online	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1999	O
,	O
Electronic	O
Arts	O
purchased	O
Air	B-Application
Warrior	I-Application
,	O
and	O
became	O
provider	O
of	O
the	O
latest	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
only	O
to	O
discontinue	O
it	O
in	O
2001	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Computer	O
Gaming	O
World	O
in	O
1990	O
called	O
Air	B-Application
Warrior	I-Application
"	O
the	O
most	O
exciting	O
 [ wargame ] 	O
I	O
've	O
played	O
"	O
,	O
warning	O
players	O
to	O
"	O
be	O
resigned	O
to	O
spending	O
some	O
money	O
on	O
it	O
,	O
though	O
,	O
because	O
time	O
flies	O
while	O
you	O
do	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
magazine	O
suggested	O
that	O
if	O
Kesmai	B-Application
were	O
to	O
add	O
some	O
upgrades	O
to	O
the	O
offline	O
single-player	O
mode	O
it	O
would	O
"	O
blow	O
away	O
any	O
of	O
the	O
competition	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1997	O
Next	O
Generation	O
named	O
Air	B-Application
Warrior	I-Application
as	O
number	O
six	O
on	O
their	O
"	O
Top	O
10	O
Online	O
Game	O
Picks	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
noted	O
that	O
"	O
Kesmai	B-Application
did	O
what	O
was	O
thought	O
impossible	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
-	O
put	O
out	O
a	O
multiplayer	B-Application
flight	O
sim	O
online	O
with	O
a	O
persistent	O
environment.	O
"	O
</s>
