The history of the paintball gun, now known as a marker, began in the early 1970's in the US, where it was used as a tool for marking trees and livestock. In the early 1980's a group of friends played the first recreational game of paintball using these markers on a large field.
The National Survival Game was one of the first names given to the game and reflected the nature of paintball as it was played at the time. The game was based on "every man for himself" and played as an elimination game or last man standing style of play.
Over the years paintball became more popular and started to develop into a commercial sport. More people were playing paintball and new game types started to emerge such as capture the flag and defensive/offensive scenarios. This made playing in teams more popular and became the standard of playing.
In 1982 the first commercial outdoor paintball field was opened to the public and was followed by the first indoor paintball field in 1984. This effectively allowed larger groups of players to meet in one area and have a great day of paintballing.
Due to the popularity of the paintball commercial fields needed to come up with a way to make the game times quicker and still keep the game enjoyable. They developed the "bunker" style of play. Smaller fields were used which allowed players to get straight into the action, instead of wondering around a larger field for 15 minutes waiting to find an unsuspecting player.
Today paintball can be found in most countries worldwide and has even developed as a National sport in the US, having tournaments offering large cash prizes. Paintballing is currently being considered as an Olympic sport.
The popularity of paintball is still growing and Ministry of Paintball will always be here to provide people with affordable and awesome days out.
