Transforming the very fabric of the Internet into a high-performance video game machine Digital Media: The Butterfly Grid Presented by: Hao Wang

2 Commercial and Consumer Opportunity Potential for a Powerful, Industry Transforming Platform The Battle for the Living Room  Gamers stealing market from Cable, DVD  What about the Future ? Content Providers Gamers

3 Online Games will Drive Technology Enormous Potential Driven by Consumer Demand  Global video game market is huge and growing: $31 billion in 2003, will spend $60 billion in  Online games revenue: 5% of industry in 2003; 25% in 2005; 50% in  Subscription price-points: single game, per month $ 9.95 (The Sims Online, Ultima Online) $12.95 (Asheron’s Call, Dark Age of Camelot, Anarchy Online) $40.00 (Everquest Legends). Online PC Gaming Connected ConsolesMobile Gaming $BB Online Video Game Market Size Segmented by Platform (sources: Mercer Consulting & Accenture)

4 Problem Statement Too Expensive, Too Difficult… Service Providers Content Providers Gamers To create  Tough technical challenges.  Not enough talent, experience.  Too much execution risk. To operate and support  Custom infrastructure, legacy code.  Inefficient use of computing/network. To play  Each game has a separate monthly fee.

5 Butterfly.net Optimizes the Industry A Platform for the Mass Market Content provider  Plugs into art, animation, physics, 3D engines.  Familiar Linux server API and tools. Ongoing operations  Supported by service providers.  Common computing and network resource base.  Highly efficient protocol, server. Consumer services  Targeted game packages.  Single sign-on, roaming, multi-platform, inter-game network.  One integrated, manageable bill. Content Providers Service Providers Gamers

6 What Butterfly Grid Offer… Ultimately Reliable All games on the Grid must be always on, always available. Infinitely Scalable  No gamer should have to wait in a lobby for room on a server. Absolutely Secure Client-side hacks, server vulnerabilities, hijacked connections and other exploits can spoil the fun Industry Standard Gamers want reasonably-priced game packages with a single sign- on across multiple properties, integrated voice communications and multi-platform support High Performance Gamers would rather complain about incompetent newbies than the frustrations of lag Maximally Efficient To the industry, this means more gamers and more profit. To the gamer, this means more fun for less money Content Providers Service Providers Gamers

7 Server models The Hierarchical Server Model Client Server Client Server

8 Server models The Hierarchical Server Model Advantages:  More scalable than flat server model.  Reduced communications overhead.  Relatively easy to implement Disadvantages:  As the number of levels in the hierarchy grows, latency between the various parts of the game grows as well.  Consistency maintenance and synchronization are even more difficult, due to this increased latency.  What if the root server goes down?

9 Server models The Grid Computing Model Client Server Client Server

10 Server models (3) The Grid Computing Model Advantages:  Can scale to support a large number of players – adding servers to the grid is transparent.  Very reliable – if a server is lost, player load is shifted automatically to a new server.  Consistency and synchronization is handled automatically by the grid software. Disadvantages:  Very complex grid software required, although standard software is emerging.  Very costly to provide

11 Multi-tiered, Fully-distributed “Game OS” Maximum efficiency in managing state of of clients, network, servers The Butterfly Grid Client Libraries Object Management System & Network Protocol Stack handle gamer input and system output for PC, console & mobile. Gateway Servers Connects edge devices to game servers appropriate for account and game state. Game Servers Data Store Provide rules enforcement, game logic, authoritative interactions.

12 Software Architecture of Butterfly Grid Hosts

13 The Butterfly Grid: Content Provider Program A Complete Package for the Professional Game Developer Package includes  Client SDK (PC, console, mobile)  Server SDK for Linux (Packaged or Hosted).  Creation tools and 3 rd party plug-ins Commercial, Government, Consumer  Game Developers  Research Institutions

14 The Butterfly Grid: Service Provider Program A Value-Added Service for New Subscription Revenue Streams Package includes  Butterfly server software suite.  Butterfly game admin apps.  Globus, policy mgt., billing. Shared Grid or Dedicated  Gamers  Industrial

Transforming the very fabric of the Internet into a high-performance video game machine Thank You