Since its 2006 inception, Trion World Network has been the target of investment, conjecture, and little else. That’s all about to change, because today — in a barrage of three press releases and three very different scoops — Trion announced a groundbreaking partnership with the Sci-Fi Channel, and their first pair of honest-to-goodness massively multiplayer online games.
For aspiring elves, dwarves and the like, Trion’s Redwood City studio is currently full steam ahead on a “seamless, persistent” fantasy MMO, helmed by Heroes of Might & Magic creator and Trion co-founder Jon Van Caneghem. They’ve got some pretty lofty aspirations for this, their first title, promising that both “battles of enormous scale will create epic moments that an unprecedented number of players can participate in,” and that players will “significantly affect the gameplay experience through dynamic events.”
As challenging as dynamic storytelling in a persistent world might be, that seems child’s play compared to what they plan to roll out next — an MMO co-developed by the Sci-Fi Channel designed to bridge the mediums of video gaming and television, and where Trion’s ‘dynamic events’ won’t just change the world of the game, but the plot of a TV show as well. Sci-Fi Channel higher-ups interviewed by the LA Times were plenty excited:
“This is the Holy Grail for us, without a doubt,” said Dave Howe, president of the Sci Fi Channel, which has teamed with Trion World Network, an on-the-rise gaming company based in Redwood City, Calif. “This is groundbreaking, and I don’t say that lightly.”
The LA Times uncovered few concrete details, save that the game and accompanying show “will be set 80 to 100 years in the future on an Earth that looks very different from today,” but Howe explains one way viewers could be involved is by determining the outcome of conflicts alluded to in the series:
“A television show that is on once a week isn’t enough. The fans today want the experience to go beyond that,” Howe said. “For example, we can tell them that there will be an alien invasion at a certain place in the game, at a certain time, and to be there with all their friends and be ready. The outcome depends on them. And then that battle will be part of the universe in the show.”
Whether for good or ill, the synergy between game and show won’t end there — the MMO will also serve as a powerful market research tool for the TV channel:
The virtual world that pulls in fans of the show will also give Buttler and his team hard data about which characters, settings and story lines stir the most interests. He said that will help the show’s producers bend their story lines to audience tastes — a notion that might not sit well with some purists who think a drama should be guided by decisions of art rather than market research. Clearly, though, the very nature of television programming is in flux, and Howe said fans have an appetite for a new level of participation and tailored entertainments.
While Trion has their work cut out for them when it comes to building compelling game titles — and are consequently expanding their workforce by one-third — the compelling technology that will run them is already in place. And when we say ‘place,’ we mean cloud.
Yes, the Trion Platform (first announced in February via practically indecipherable press release), has been revealed today as not merely a Hewlett-Packard designed infrastructure for digital distribution, but rather a cloud gaming platform where games are hosted and run on a network of HP servers. Players will still need to download (or purchase) art and sound files which will be rendered client-side, but “the smarts,” CEO Lars Buttler told Gamasutra, “are in the cloud.”
According to Trion, the server-side nature of things will allow developers to both change games on-the-fly and offer cross-platform functionality. Theoretically, you could play the game on PC, then switch right over to PS3 and find yourself in the exact same world. Incidentally, that particular combination is probably first on the list; today, Trion secured a license to develop on PS3.
VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi is understandably skeptical: with limited bandwidth, server-side games often run into difficulties managing lag, and Trion’s plans are so ambitious as to be almost inconceivable:
Coordinating fast-action games is so tough that they usually have to be limited to 16 to 64 online players in a single game. Trion wants to allow thousands of players in the same game arenas. Others who try to build massive game worlds with thousands of players always run into some trade-off that compromises the quality of the experience.
But even he admits that Trion’s collection of big-name partners and investors indicate that the company “isn’t just blowing smoke.”
The Sci-Fi Channel game is tentatively slated for Summer 2010, and details will be unveiled at July’s Comic-Con in San Diego. We’ve no notion of when Caneghem’s fantasy MMO is due, but the press release prominently labels it “Trion’s first,” so we’ll expect more details soon. Meanwhile, network admins and the computer-savvy can assess the viability of the platform over at Gamasutra, where Trion’s co-founders were quizzed about technical details and plans for social networking integration.
Your press releases:
JUNE 2ND, 2008: TRION WORLD NETWORK ANNOUNCES FIRST GAME IN DEVELOPMENT - FANTASY MMORPG HELMED BY LEGENDARY DESIGNER JON VAN CANEGHEM
Trion World Network, Inc. (Trion), the publisher and developer of connected games and entertainment, has announced their first title, a fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Jon Van Caneghem, Computer Gaming Hall of Fame member best known for creating the long running RPG and strategy franchises Might and Magic and Heroes, is the creative force behind the project currently being developed internally at Trion’s Redwood City studio. The game represents the initial first-party title on the Trion Platform, and will be published by Trion in both North America and Europe.
Gamers will enter a seamless, persistent fantasy world, where they will significantly affect the gameplay experience through dynamic events. Battles of enormous scale will create epic moments that an unprecedented number of players can participate in. All of this will be powered by Trion’s revolutionary server-based architecture, which is uniquely designed to enable massive scalability, dynamic content evolution, and cross platform development.
“This game is designed on the philosophy of putting players at the center of the game world,” said Jon Van Caneghem, co-founder, President and Chief Creative Officer, Trion. “By building an extensive event system and a server architecture that allows for dynamic change, we are creating completely new opportunities for creative game design. The game will live and change along with the players, evolving in response to their actions and the creativity of our design team.”
Trion’s first title, led by Jon Van Caneghem, is another step that underscores Trion’s momentum in building a premium publisher and developer of server-based games. Today Trion also announced a publishing agreement with Sony as well as a major co-development deal with Sci-Fi Channel. With a world class team lead by industry veterans, publishing agreements across platforms, new IP titles being developed in the Trion studios, backing from financial and media giants, proprietary groundbreaking technology and operations in key locations, Trion World Network aims to define the future of interactive entertainment.
JUNE 2ND, 2008: SCI FI AND TRION WORLD NETWORK UNVEIL GROUNDBREAKING PARTNERSHIP TO CO-DEVELOP AND SIMULTANEOUSLY LAUNCH NEW GLOBAL TV AND VIDEO GAME BUSINESS
SCI FI, a top cable entertainment and lifestyle brand, and Trion World Network (Trion), the publisher and developer of connected games and entertainment, have entered into a first-of-its-kind partnership to co-develop a new entertainment franchise across both interactive and traditional media formats. In a pioneering business and creative collaboration model, the two companies will co-develop a dynamic, connected video game franchise published by Trion and a television show to air on SCI FI. The content on each platform will share the same fictional universe; the cross-platform design will allow the storyline and the universe to grow and expand over time, building depth and dynamically evolving the world.
“SCI FI’s strong brand, creative expertise and audience profile combined with Trion’s unique dynamic, multi-device game platform and premier development and publishing talent will break new ground for the future of transmedia entertainment,” said Dave Howe, president, SCI FI Channel.
Trion and SCI FI’s collaboration defines a step in leading the media industry into the era of connected devices, combining the best of video games, online social media, and traditional mass-market entertainment. The companies’ agreement will result in a groundbreaking new immersive entertainment experience that allows the audience to participate in a developing storyline and expanding universe. Trion’s publishing platform, and SCI FI’s built-in audience will also set an industry standard in how to reach broader consumer categories across a variety of media preferences.
“Trion’s San Diego studio and our platform and publishing groups in Austin and Redwood City will work closely with SCI FI’s creative team in developing a dynamically evolving, massively social, connected entertainment franchise across multiple formats and platforms of choice,” Lars Buttler, co-founder and CEO, Trion, said. “We are laying the foundation for an exciting new co-development model between top cable entertainment and lifestyle brands such as SCI FI and connected game and interactive entertainment companies such as Trion.”
“Trion’s team has a long history of launching world-class MMOGs (massively multi-player online games) and will bring SCI FI’s consumer the deeply immersive, highly detailed experience that the television screen only begins to tap into,” added Adam Stotsky, Executive Vice President of Global Branding and Market Development. “Extending and deepening this experience into gaming and social media in an industry-defining co-development partnership with Trion, a leader in connected games and entertainment is the logical evolution for the SCI FI brand.”
JUNE 2ND, 2008: TRION WORLD NETWORK SIGNS LICENSED PLAYSTATION® 3 COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM PUBLISHER AGREEMENT FOR NORTH AMERICA
Trion World Network, Inc. (Trion), the publisher and developer of connected games and entertainment, has acquired the rights to develop and publish games for the PLAYSTATION® 3 computer entertainment system in North America through a signed agreement with Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. (SCEA).
“Announcing this publishing partnership with SCEA is the latest step in Trion’s strategic growth plans,” said Dr. Lars Buttler, CEO and co-founder, Trion. “The PLAYSTATION® 3 computer entertainment system is the perfect platform to carry out our vision that the future of games and entertainment lies in the connected era, and this agreement provides Trion with a major entertainment channel to deliver ground-breaking and exciting content to the mass market in North America.”
Trion’s mission is to revolutionize interactive entertainment by combining the best of online, gaming and traditional media. By designing and developing powerful new technologies, new content, and new publishing capabilities, Trion is poised to be a leader in the emerging global multi-billion dollar connected entertainment market.
Led by Dr. Lars Buttler, former Vice President for Global Online at Electronic Arts, and Jon Van Caneghem, former founder and CEO of New World Computing and creator of the best-selling Might and Magic and Heroes of Might and Magic game franchises, Trion has assembled a world-class team of gaming and online veterans with proven success and talent in business, original content development and technology who have developed and shipped more than 100 original titles.
The publishing agreement with SCEA is another step that underscores Trion’s momentum in building a premium publisher and developer of server-based games. Today Trion also announced the company’s first title under development by industry veteran Jon Van Caneghem as well as a major co-development deal with the Sci-Fi Channel. With a world class team led by industry veterans, publishing agreements across platforms, new IP titles being developed in the Trion studios, backing from financial and media giants, proprietary groundbreaking technology and operations in key locations, Trion World Network aims to define the future of interactive entertainment.
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