The Dinosaur Game was created in 2014 by a small team of Chrome developers: Sebastien Gabriel, Alan Bettes, and Edward Jung. Their mission was simple — to make the “No Internet” error page less frustrating for users.

Instead of staring at a blank screen that said “No Internet Connection”, users would now see a tiny dinosaur. The idea was symbolic: it represented a return to the “prehistoric age” before Wi-Fi and connectivity — a clever joke that perfectly matched Chrome’s sense of humor.

But the developers didn’t stop there. They thought, “What if the dinosaur could run?”
That idea led to the creation of a built-in endless runner game, hidden behind Chrome’s offline mode.

It was first launched in September 2014 and officially rolled out to all Chrome users in 2018. Today, it’s estimated that hundreds of millions of people play the Dinosaur Game every month — some even when their internet is perfectly fine.