在线游戏为托管服务提供商机
作者： DJN
责任编辑： 阚智
来源： 《电脑商情报》
时间： 2006-06-20 02:49
During the day, Nicole and Michael Gross work public relations in New Jersey. But at night, the couple wages war against monsters in the "World of Warcraft."
The two, who sit back-to-back in their Glassboro, N.J., house, regularly log on to the fantasy computer game and meet up with dozens of people to conduct nightly raids against hordes of orcs and demons in sessions that sometimes go all night.
"There are hundreds of people in the game," Nicole, 26, said. "It's amazing it can handle that many people at one time."
The popularity of massive multiplayer online games - entire virtual worlds where players can explore or socialize in - has put unprecedented strain on the underlying network powering them. Players such as the Grosses spend countless hours online, transmitting massive amounts of information back and forth in environments that constantly need updating. The demands are fueling a resurgence for companies hosting and running those networks - an industry that was plagued by too much capacity and too few customers after the technology bubble burst.
In the past few years, the U.S. Internet hosting services industry has been humming along. The business, which includes everything from the storage of Web servers to the management of a customer's network infrastructure, was worth $6.93 billion in 2005, and should grow at an annual average rate of 16%, according to Rona Shuchat, an analyst for market research firm IDC. It's expected to jump to $14.53 billion by 2010.
Computer game hosting, however, outstrips the total business. AT&T Inc. (T), for instance, says its hosting business is growing at a slightly faster rate than the estimated industry average. But its video game hosting business boasts a triple-digit percentage growth rate, and gaming data accounts for a third of the volume traffic.
"Gaming is one of the bright spots for the hosting marketplace," said Mike Jenner, the vice president of enterprise networking for AT&T. "There's been an explosion of use by broadband gamers attracted to online gaming."
Indeed, herds of players have migrated to the online worlds. Roughly 3 million subscribed to multiplayer online games last year, according to Michael Cai, a broadband gaming expert at market research firm Parks Associates. That number should double over the next five years as the industry works to broaden its appeal.
In a testament to the strength of the segment, AT&T, San Antonio, launched a group dedicated to online gaming in May that includes sales people, engineering and technical personnel who are familiar with the industry's specific needs. These specialized practices are typically reserved for core customer groups such as the financial and medical institutions.
"Those are the pillars of the U.S. economics," Jenner said. "It's not surprising we're organized around serving them. But video games are not a traditional brick-and-mortar establishment. It's about emerging economies around entertainment and communications."
New Services Make The Difference
When the telecom sector crashed around 2000, many companies that overexpanded were left with empty Internet data centers, or facilities that are used to house servers.
But things have improved. Over the past two years, those facilities have filled back up as more and more applications and content got moved onto the Internet. Several years back, companies started offering different managed service offerings, or additional features such as security or disaster recovery, which supplied an additional revenue stream that offered higher margins.
As more games go online, the game makers are moving to take advantage of those services. "In the past, game companies may have selected to host data centers inside their operation," said David Laux, who heads up the games and interactive entertainment business for International Business Machines Corp. (IBM). "Now we see game companies beginning to embrace a more managed service offering so they can focus on their core competency."
"Today, they can't afford not to do it," he said.
IBM, Armonk, N.Y., is the major player in the managed service business. Its expertise with video game companies includes being able to show potential customers how large a network deployment they need to serve their gamers.
The business is also attracting a lot of niche players. Privately held Online Game Services Inc., which works with IBM, serves 10 game customers around the world. Chief Executive James Hursthouse said he expects to double that number by the end of the year.
"The market is at a relatively nascent stage," he said, adding that this year marked a turning point for the gaming industry.
AT&T, for its part, said it avoided the pitfalls of overexpanding, and was able to drive some growth during the lean years as others were shrinking. Today, its Internet data centers are filled with servers for game companies such as Sony Corp.'s (SNE) Sony Online Entertainment unit.
Sony, which runs online worlds such as "Everquest" and Star Wars Galaxies" and serves two football stadiums' worth of players each night, is among the major players online and has developed its own expertise in running its network operations. But Sony Online is exactly the kind of customer AT&T wants to offer its managed services to.
Either way, the group should provide another catalyst to an already growing business. "It's a great opportunity to expand their core business," said Jeff Anderson, chief executive of Turbine Inc., which developed Dungeons & Dragons. "It's a big market segment that's getting larger."
The two, who sit back-to-back in their Glassboro, N.J., house, regularly log on to the fantasy computer game and meet up with dozens of people to conduct nightly raids against hordes of orcs and demons in sessions that sometimes go all night.
"There are hundreds of people in the game," Nicole, 26, said. "It's amazing it can handle that many people at one time."
The popularity of massive multiplayer online games - entire virtual worlds where players can explore or socialize in - has put unprecedented strain on the underlying network powering them. Players such as the Grosses spend countless hours online, transmitting massive amounts of information back and forth in environments that constantly need updating. The demands are fueling a resurgence for companies hosting and running those networks - an industry that was plagued by too much capacity and too few customers after the technology bubble burst.
In the past few years, the U.S. Internet hosting services industry has been humming along. The business, which includes everything from the storage of Web servers to the management of a customer's network infrastructure, was worth $6.93 billion in 2005, and should grow at an annual average rate of 16%, according to Rona Shuchat, an analyst for market research firm IDC. It's expected to jump to $14.53 billion by 2010.
Computer game hosting, however, outstrips the total business. AT&T Inc. (T), for instance, says its hosting business is growing at a slightly faster rate than the estimated industry average. But its video game hosting business boasts a triple-digit percentage growth rate, and gaming data accounts for a third of the volume traffic.
"Gaming is one of the bright spots for the hosting marketplace," said Mike Jenner, the vice president of enterprise networking for AT&T. "There's been an explosion of use by broadband gamers attracted to online gaming."
Indeed, herds of players have migrated to the online worlds. Roughly 3 million subscribed to multiplayer online games last year, according to Michael Cai, a broadband gaming expert at market research firm Parks Associates. That number should double over the next five years as the industry works to broaden its appeal.
In a testament to the strength of the segment, AT&T, San Antonio, launched a group dedicated to online gaming in May that includes sales people, engineering and technical personnel who are familiar with the industry's specific needs. These specialized practices are typically reserved for core customer groups such as the financial and medical institutions.
"Those are the pillars of the U.S. economics," Jenner said. "It's not surprising we're organized around serving them. But video games are not a traditional brick-and-mortar establishment. It's about emerging economies around entertainment and communications."
New Services Make The Difference
When the telecom sector crashed around 2000, many companies that overexpanded were left with empty Internet data centers, or facilities that are used to house servers.
But things have improved. Over the past two years, those facilities have filled back up as more and more applications and content got moved onto the Internet. Several years back, companies started offering different managed service offerings, or additional features such as security or disaster recovery, which supplied an additional revenue stream that offered higher margins.
As more games go online, the game makers are moving to take advantage of those services. "In the past, game companies may have selected to host data centers inside their operation," said David Laux, who heads up the games and interactive entertainment business for International Business Machines Corp. (IBM). "Now we see game companies beginning to embrace a more managed service offering so they can focus on their core competency."
"Today, they can't afford not to do it," he said.
IBM, Armonk, N.Y., is the major player in the managed service business. Its expertise with video game companies includes being able to show potential customers how large a network deployment they need to serve their gamers.
The business is also attracting a lot of niche players. Privately held Online Game Services Inc., which works with IBM, serves 10 game customers around the world. Chief Executive James Hursthouse said he expects to double that number by the end of the year.
"The market is at a relatively nascent stage," he said, adding that this year marked a turning point for the gaming industry.
AT&T, for its part, said it avoided the pitfalls of overexpanding, and was able to drive some growth during the lean years as others were shrinking. Today, its Internet data centers are filled with servers for game companies such as Sony Corp.'s (SNE) Sony Online Entertainment unit.
Sony, which runs online worlds such as "Everquest" and Star Wars Galaxies" and serves two football stadiums' worth of players each night, is among the major players online and has developed its own expertise in running its network operations. But Sony Online is exactly the kind of customer AT&T wants to offer its managed services to.
Either way, the group should provide another catalyst to an already growing business. "It's a great opportunity to expand their core business," said Jeff Anderson, chief executive of Turbine Inc., which developed Dungeons & Dragons. "It's a big market segment that's getting larger."
