GDI successfully concludes private testing phase and launches AWOMO publicly for the first time with a series of AAA games to play for free
Public Beta of its digital distribution platform, AWOMO™, capable of delivering even the largest ‘AAA’ PC games directly from a web browser in minutes rather than hours compared with conventional download services.
AWOMO’s revolutionary, proprietary technology enables consumers to start playing the game while it is downloading without interruption to the game play. During the course of the Public Beta, visitors to www.awomo.com will be invited to test the technology by playing a series of games – completely free of charge, courtesy of the publishing community.
“Having privately tested within a small community of gamers, it is now time for us to stress test our new technology on a wider scale,” explained Roger Walkden, Chief Executive Officer of GDI. “We have seen speeds that are up to 20x faster than conventional download services, and we’re looking forward to sharing the benefits of our system with gamers, so they can share their experiences with us and give feedback.”
“Digital Distribution is heralded as the future of video games retailing,” continued Walkden, “but this will only happen if the download experience is improved for the end user. AWOMO’s ‘one click from a browser’ simplicity and super-fast speed provides a glimpse into a bright new future for gamers wanting instant gratification and publishers looking for new distribution options. With faster speeds come new revenue models for the games industry and we are looking forward to introducing these as part of the Beta at a later date.”
Apart from clear leadership in terms of speed, the final AWOMO platform will offer consumers many other benefits, including:
• Multiple payment options providing gamers with flexibility and value, including the new ‘Rent to Own’ model – consumers trial games at low risk with access at an hourly rate before ultimately owning them outright
• Free ‘Demo Time’ continuously topped up for actively purchasing customers
• No install limitations – play on any computer provided gamers are connected to the Internet and logged into their AWOMO account
• Community functionality of increasing sophistication as the platform develops, including matchmaking, leagues and tournaments
• A wide variety of games, both back catalogue and new.