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1981 - The first organized game is played that summer in Henniker, New Hampshire. Dubbed "The Survival Game", it is played using "Model 007 Nel-Spots", bolt-action paint pistols that fired oil-based paint pellets. The pistols and paint pellets were manufactured by the Nelson Paint Company for use by ranchers to mark their cattle.
1982 - Bob Gurnsey, founder of the game, forms the first paintball dealership. He calls it the National Survival Game Association.
1983 - Bob Gurnsey persuades a major pharmaceutical company to manufacture water-based paint pellets. That same year, Simon & Schuster, Inc. publishes the very first book about paintball. The book, entitled "The Official Survival Game Manual", was written and illustrated by freelance writer Lionel Atwil, one of the people to play in the first organized game of paintball.
1984 - NSG, Inc. introduces the "Splatmaster", the first paintball gun designed exclusively for playing the game.
1985 - The premier issue of "Front Line", the very first paintball magazine, is published. (Note: Front Line has since ceased publication. In its place, however, there have appeared several other paintball magazines and newspapers, such as "Action Pursuit Games", "Paintball Sports International", and "Paintball News", just to name a few.)
1986 - Sheridan Products, Inc. introduces the "Model PGP", a pump-action paintball pistol. That same year, Crosman Industries, Inc. introduces the "Model 3357 Spot-Marker", the first paintball revolver. And Tippmann Pneumatics, Inc. introduces the "Model SMG-60", a fully automatic paintball submachine gun. Indoor paintball fields come into vogue. Large tournaments with cash prizes become more common. And an entirely new concept in paintball games is introduced when a paintball field in Southern California call "Sad Sak's" holds the very first big game. Motorized mini-tanks are employed in the game and close to 500 players attend the event. (Note: This was also the year that marked the advent of constant air paintball guns, an event which helped to revolutionize the paintball industry. In the years that followed, much controversy would ensue over the issue of constant air. Some players believed that the use of constant air would instigate an arms race and paintball would cease to be a game of stealth. Other players believed that constant air added a whole new dimension to the sport and made the game much more challenging. In any case, constant air guns had a definite impact on the sport and changed the face of paintball forever.)
1987 - Team Navarone becomes the industry's first ever factory-sponsored paintball team and J.T. Racing, Inc. introduces the first goggle system designed exclusively for paintball players. (Note: In the years that followed, J.T. Racing would change its name to J.T. USA and ultimately become the world's leading manufacturer of paintball goggle systems and player protective gear.) That same year marked the advent of "Action Pursuit Games", a feature format magazine about paintball and laser tag. Also that year, the first commercial video about paintball, entitled "The Winning Game", is filmed and released.
1988 - Speedball makes its debut at Sat Cong Village, a paintball field in Southern California. Also called "arena ball", this revolutionary new variation of the game is an instant hit and was soon being played at paintball fields all around the globe. Pro-Star Labs, Inc. introduces the "Bouncing Betty" paint grenade. Paintball guns are banned from the "Shot Show" by the National Shooting Sports Foundation. This was also the year during which negative publicity and an increase in paintball-related injuries ultimately led to the formation of the International Paintball Players Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to keeping the game safe and to promoting the growth of the sport both nationally and around the world. (Note: Presently, due in part to the efforts of the I.P.P.A. and organizations like it, paintball is not only being played all over America, it is also being played in Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guam, Holland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Okinawa, Puerto Rico, Russia, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, The Philippines, and Venezuela.)
1989 - Both "Paintball Sports" and "PaintCheck" magazine begin publication. The growing need for trained officials and qualified paintball referees leads to the formation of the North American Paintball Referees Association.
1990 - In April, the first national tournament to allow 12 gram and constant air is held in Nashville, Tennessee by Jim Lively and Sam Caldwell. The tournament, called the Music City Open, is also the first national tournament to allow carry-on paint and the first major event to be santioned by the I.P.P.A. That same year, prompted by continuing negative publicity, the I.P.P.A. establishes a reward fund which offers for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone who uses a paintball gun to commit a crime. Also that same year, after a young player is seriously injured in an accident involving a constant air cylinder, the I.P.P.A. conducts an extensive investigation to determine the cause of the accident. When their investigation reveals the accident was caused by an improperly installed valve, the I.P.P.A. issues a world-wide safety alert warning players about the danger and what to watch for.
1991 - "Paintball", a magazine for new players, begins publication.
1995 - Paintball makes its prime-time cable T.V. debut on E.S.P.N. during a televised broadcast of the 1995 World Championship Games held in Orlando, Florida. Later that year, in television newscasts all across America, a videotape of four teenagers using paintball guns in a driveby shooting is aired and paintball players in every corner of the world voice their outrage over the incident.
1996 - Bob "Sarge" Shano forms the Gladiators, the first made-for-TV paintball team. The Gladiators are a co-ed multi-ethnic group of young paintball players whose primary goal is to promote paintball as a mainstream activity.
1997 - After less than a year on the air, the popular T.V. series "Paintball Gladiators" is presented with an "Award of Excellence" from the Alliance for Community Media, making it paintball's first ever award-winning public access television show.
1998 - Electronic paintball guns make their debut on the market.
1999 - Concerns regarding paintball guns and rate-of-fire spark another major debate, ultimately leading to a decision to limit the b.p.s. (balls-per-second) of any gun manufactured from the year 2000 on.
2000 - After entering into a sponsorship agreement with Diablo Direct West, the Gladiators, young stars of the public-access T.V. series "Paintball Gladiators", become the first ever non-tournament paintball team in the industry to be factory-sponsored. Later that year, the Gladiators become the first ever non-tournament paintball team to become factory-sponsored by a major non-paintball corporation, Danner Boots of Portland, Oregon.
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