Awomo
| Developer(s) | Game Domain International Plc |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows |
| Available in | English German |
| Type | Internet game distribution and delivery system |
| Website | http://www.awomo.com/ |
AWOMO is a Germany-based internet game distribution and delivery system, first developed by Game Domain International Plc.[1]
and completed by GDC Game and Download Company AG, Düsseldorf, Germany. AWOMO claims to deliver online game content in drastically shorter times than rival download services by allowing users to play games before they are fully downloaded. AWOMO also optimizes which parts are downloaded first based on usage statistics from other users.[2] It is likely to be a viable rival to Steam, a similar pay-to-play game site, which originally envisioned a similar streaming-style content delivery mechanism, but abandoned it in favour of permanent local storage.[3][4]
History of AWOMO
On 29 December 2010, AWOMO was completely redesigned as GDC Game and Download Company AG, Germany became the new operator. Nils Herrnberger, the chief executive officer of GDC AG, was quoted saying: "It will accelerate time-to-play massively, giving gamers a whole new experience." Nils also stated that they would aim to offer five new games every month.[5][6]
On 29 January 2011, the German version of AWOMO was started.[7]
On 7 March 2011, GDC Game and Download Company AG made a convincing debut at Game Connection in San Francisco. As a result, some of the publishers in attendance agreed to work with them.[8]
The AWOMO platform - technical overview
The technology behind AWOMO is based on the principle that a player does not need to hold all of the game data locally in order to run and start playing the game. Instead, when the user logs into AWOMO, the server checks the reliable connection speed between server and user. It then calculates the smallest possible 'stub' of data that will enable the player to launch the game and continue playing with no interruption, with the rest of the data downloading as a background task.[9]
This technique was employed by Exent, Triton,[10] and Steam, but has been largely abandoned.
AWOMO issued a press release which claims that Quality and Assurance teams prepare the games for delivery on its platform by generating sets of 'data-time' maps. A neural network subsequently analyses these maps to calculate the most efficient way to deliver the data to a gamer at a given connection speed.[11]
AWOMO also intends to provide a "rent-to-own" system, where the user can rent a game for a set period of time, and at the end of said time, the game becomes theirs.[12]
AWOMO compared to conventional downloads
The following chart details the increase of speed when AWOMO's method of downloading is used rather than conventional downloading. It is based on published information about Rome: Total War.
| Rate | AWOMO | Common method |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Mbit/s | 5 Mins | 27 Mins |
| 8 Mbit/s | 11 Mins | 54 Mins |
| 4 Mbit/s | 22 Mins | 108 Mins |
See also
External links
- AWOMO - Official website
References
- ↑ "About AWOMO/GDI". AWOMO website. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
- ↑ "AWOMO FAQ". AWOMO website. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
- ↑ "The secret of AWOMO's Island". The Steam Review. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
- ↑ "Steam explained!". Valve news and discussion. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
- ↑ "New Operators". Gamasutra - press releases. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
- ↑ "AWOMO Details". AWOMO website. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
- ↑ "German version of website". AWOMO website. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
- ↑ "AWOMO debuts in San Francisco". AWOMO website. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
- ↑ TechRadar analysis of AWOMO tech "AWOMO Download Service Explained" Check
|url= - ↑ SteamReview comparison of AWOMO with other services at SteamReview.org website
- ↑ AWOMO technology press release "GDI explains how AWOMO works" Check
|url= - ↑ http://www.awomo.com/?q=node/25