The Google Chrome dinosaur has a lifespan of 17 million years.

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The dinosaur game mini-game buried in Google Chrome error pages may last up to 17 million years, a tribute to how long the T-Rex lived on Earth, according to the game's authors.

As part of the festivities for Google's Chrome browser's 10th anniversary this week, Google sponsored a Q&A with the game's designers about how the game came to be.

"In early 2014, the concept of 'an endless runner' as an easter egg within the 'you-are-offline' page was born."

"It's a play on going back to the 'prehistoric age,' when there was no WiFi," design team member Sebastien Gabriel said.

"The cacti and desert setting were part of the first iteration of the 'you-are-offline' page, while the visual style is a nod to our tradition of pixel-art style in Chrome's error illustrations."

The team claimed that since the game's release in 2014, it has had over 270 million monthly plays across desktop and mobile platforms.

According to Chrome UX developer Edward Jung, the majority of the game's participants were from countries with "unreliable or expensive mobile data, such as India, Brazil, Mexico, or Indonesia."

As part of the Chrome birthday festivities, a party hat, balloons, and a cake have just been introduced to the game.

Jung also disclosed that the team developed the virtual T-Rex in the mini-game to survive as long as its real-life counterparts did on this planet.

"We built it to max out at approximately 17 million years, the same amount of time that the T-rex was alive on Earth," he went on to say.

"But we feel like your spacebar may not be the same afterwards."

Listing Updated on November 2, 2023 10:43 PM