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A World of My Own (abbreviated as AWOMO) is a UK-based Internet game distribution and delivery system, in development by Game Domain International Plc, in conjunction with the Virgin Group.

AWOMO claims to deliver online game content in drastically shorter times than rival download services by allowing users to play the games before they are fully downloaded, and optimizing which parts are downloaded first based on usage statistics from other users.

The system is currently in a public Beta Testing state. The first game to be tested publicly was Rome: Total War, which users were encouraged to play free of charge from December 17th 2008. In February 2009, Rome: Total War was replaced by Tomb Raider: Legend which users could also access for free for a period of a month. The reaction of users to the system was varied - some users had problems with installation of the client or with downloading and launching the two test games, but the reaction in general has been positive.

In April this free promo was closed and the developers launched the paid system type with the game Rome: Total War, and later in 2009 expanded to include Warhammer: Mark of Chaos, Painkiller and Blackout 2

Additionally, future plans include the development of a 3D virtual world, intended to function as a chat room, game lobby and social networking toolkit. AWOMO players explore a virtual island, where they can chat with other players, play free games, purchase items, and compete in gaming tournaments for various prizes.

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.

The AWOMO Platform - Technical Overview

The technology behind AWOMO is based on the simple 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, then calculates the smallest possible 'stub' of data that will enable the player to launch the game and continue playing with no interruption, the rest of the data downloading as a background task while the game is under way.
This technique has been employed before by Exent, Triton, and Steam but largely abandoned.

AWOMO has issued a press release which claims that QA teams prepare the games for delivery on its platform by generating sets of 'data-time' maps which a neural network subsequently analyses to calculate the most efficient way to deliver the data to a gamer at a given connection speed.

AWOMO also intends to provide a "Rent to Own" system, where the user can rent out a game for a set peiod of time, and then the game is theirs to keep.

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Press Release

GDI Joins With Eidos To Offer Tomb Raider: Legend Free To Play For One Month On AWOMO And Reveals Double Speed Gains

GDI today unveils the second game to feature in the Public Beta test of new, super-fast digital distribution platform AWOMO™ - Tomb Raider: Legend™ from Eidos™ - and demonstrates a download 11x the speed of conventional games download services, an improvement of double the speed of initial tests.

Windsor, UK February 11, 2009 -- GDI Game Domain International Plc (GDI) today announced a second milestone in the Public Beta of its revolutionary games download platform AWOMO™ with the launch of Tomb Raider: Legend™ from Eidos™, originally released in 2006. The game will be free of charge to play via http://www.awomo.com for a period of one month from today, for consumers to continue stress testing GDI's new platform that allows PC games to be downloaded in minutes rather than hours.

The much anticipated Public Beta of the AWOMO digital delivery platform features new technology that delivers even the largest 'AAA' PC games in minutes rather than hours compared with 'conventional' download services, directly from a web browser. It enables consumers to start playing a game while it is downloading without interruption to the game play.

"Tomb Raider: Legend™ is the perfect title both to showcase our unique super-fast download technology, and continue our stress trials," explained Roger Walkden, Chief Executive of GDI. "We have already proved in our first test that via AWOMO, players can be playing a game 5x faster than conventional download services. With Tomb Raider: Legend™, a 7.2GB game, we can demonstrate that players on an 8 Megabit line can be playing the game within 11 minutes, a staggering 11x the speed of competing services and twice as fast as our previous Beta test game."

"We're pleased to support the AWOMO Public Beta with Tomb Raider: Legend™," added Simon Protheroe, Online Publishing Director of Eidos™. "We're extremely impressed with the speed advantages of the platform and the overall quality of the consumer experience."
Further information for both consumers and editors is available from http://www.awomo.com.

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AWOMO™ is the world's first 3D games platform dedicated entirely to games and gamers. AWOMO™ will offer the worlds best games, playable within minutes rather than hours. The games are set within a virtual island where the global games community can meet, talk, sample free games, buy stuff, and enter tournaments to win big prizes.

The world's best games.

Gamers are a dedicated and well informed community, who know what's out there and what they want . AWOMO™ will deliver the triple A's along with a comprehensive range of the worlds best games to suit all ages and tastes. What's more – AWOMO™ will feature many 'never seen before innovations from small indy developers and bring back lots of discontinued 'old favourites' to live again alongside the hottest new releases. (Credit: AWOMO).

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Press Release

Virgin Games partners with GDI to launch “A World Of My Own” 3D Online Gaming Platform
12.02.07

Downloading of video games is to grow rapidly after the launch of a new platform that aims to replicate the functionality of iTunes, making it quicker and cheaper for gamers to download their favourite games.

Virgin Games and Game Domain International (GDI) today announce the successful completion of live tests for delivering a wide range of PC games on a 3D ‘virtual world’ platform.

The platform offers many key advantages over existing technologies - including rapid download speeds enabling play within minutes instead of hours, far greater security, and improved ease of use for the customer.

The platform’s name - A World of My Own (AWOMO) is expected to significantly accelerate the growth of the total games market - already valued at $25b* making it bigger than the movie industry. AWOMO will initially make money on a pay per play or subscription basis.

Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin said: “This is a really exciting development for us, as it gives us the opportunity to do for PC Games what iTunes has done for music. The GDI technology will revolutionise how the mass market will play games, and will give them more choice for less money.”

The PC games industry is plagued by high distribution costs and piracy which has hampered the growth of this market. Several of the world’s major games publishers have already registered their support. The Koch Media Group, Europe’s largest PC games distributor, working with major brands such as EA, Ubisoft and Deep Silver, were one of the first to witness this new technology in action. At the recent demonstration, their reaction was so enthusiastic that negotiations are already well advanced in preparation for the AWOMO launch.

Koch Media are one of the pioneers of on line distribution and work with e–tailers such as Metaboli and Gamesload and have many years experience in on line delivery but are constantly looking for ways to improve their service.

Roger Bennett, former director of ELSPA, the games industry association, said: “After twenty one years in the computer and video games industry, I can honestly say I have recently seen in operation the most unique technology that can bring the most potential value to the industry.”

Chris Gorman OBE, director of GDI, says, "The highly alluring combination of being able to download a game in minutes instead of the existing standard few hours and the promoted mega cash prize gaming tournaments will create a Mecca of opportunities for sponsors and promoters to target the vast gaming community.”

GDI intend to launch their AWOMO platform later in 2007 with a large selection of games available in order to meet the huge international demand expected.

London, 16 February 2007

Virgin Games partners with GDI to launch "A World Of My Own" 3D Online Gaming Platform

Virgin Games and Game Domain International (GDI) today announce the successful completion of live tests for delivering a wide range of PC games on a 3D 'virtual world' platform.

The platform's name - A World of My Own (AWOMO) is expected to significantly accelerate the growth of the total games market - already valued at $25b* making it bigger than the movie industry. AWOMO will initially make money on a pay per play or subscription basis.

Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin said: "This is a really exciting development for us, as it gives us the opportunity to do for PC Games what iTunes has done for music. The GDI technology will revolutionise how the mass market will play games, and will give them more choice for less money."

The PC games industry is plagued by high distribution costs and piracy which has hampered the growth of this market. Several of the world's major games publishers have already registered their support. The Koch Media Group, Europe's largest PC games distributor, working with major brands such as EA, Ubisoft and Deep Silver, were one of the first to witness this new technology in action. At the recent demonstration, their reaction was so enthusiastic that negotiations are already underway to sign off on a range of games to be made available on AWOMO when it launches.

Roger Bennett, former director of ELSPA, the games industry association, said: "After twenty one years in the computer and video games industry, I can honestly say I have recently seen in operation the most unique technology that can bring the most potential value to the industry."

GDI intend to launch their AWOMO platform later in 2007 with a large selection of games available in order to meet the huge international demand expected.

*Various collated estimates gleaned from DFC Intelligence, Screen Digest, ABI research, PwC, NPD and Chartrack.

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