Awomo

In February 2007 Richard Branson announced that Virgin_Group and Game Domain International Plc started developing a download platform for games called "A World Of My Own" (AWOMO).{{cite web|title=Richard Branson's videogames project - 'A World of My Own' - iTunes for games |url=https://hexus.net/gaming/news/industry/7848-richard-bransons-videogames-project-a-world-my-own-itunes-games/ |work=Hexus Newssite |date=12 February 2007 |accessdate=11 July 2021 }}

On 29 December 2010, AWOMO was completely redesigned as GDC Game and Download Company AG, Germany became the new operator. Nils Herrnberger, the chief executive officer of GDC AG, was quoted saying: "It will accelerate time-to-play massively, giving gamers a whole new experience." Nils also stated that they would aim to offer five new games every month.{{cite web|title=New Operators|url=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/pressreleases/67509/AWOMOCOM_New_PC_Download_Portal_entering_beta_stage.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110117083014/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/pressreleases/67509/AWOMOCOM_New_PC_Download_Portal_entering_beta_stage.php|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 17, 2011|work=Gamasutra - press releases|accessdate=20 April 2012}}{{cite web|title=AWOMO Details |url=http://www.awomo.com/page/imprint |work=AWOMO website |accessdate=20 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418144844/http://www.awomo.com/page/imprint |archivedate=18 April 2012 }}

On 29 January 2011, the German version of AWOMO was started.{{cite web|title=German version of website |url=http://www.awomo.com/home?language=DE |work=AWOMO website |accessdate=20 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110911222116/http://www.awomo.com/home?language=DE |archivedate=11 September 2011 }}

On 7 March 2011, GDC Game and Download Company AG made a convincing debut at Game Connection in San Francisco. As a result, some of the publishers in attendance agreed to work with them.{{cite web|title=AWOMO debuts in San Francisco |url=http://www.awomo.com/news/AWOMO-MAKES-CONVINCING-DEBUT-IN-SAN-FRANCISCO/14?language=EN |work=AWOMO website |accessdate=20 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224084130/http://www.awomo.com/news/AWOMO-MAKES-CONVINCING-DEBUT-IN-SAN-FRANCISCO/14?language=EN |archivedate=24 December 2013 }}

The technology behind AWOMO is based on the 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. It then calculates the smallest possible 'stub' of data that will enable the player to launch the game and continue playing with no interruption, with the rest of the data downloading as a background task.{{cite web|title=AWOMO Download Service Explained|url=http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/awomo-the-holy-grail-of-game-downloads--586258?src=rss&attr=newsgaming|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090322183138/http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/awomo-the-holy-grail-of-game-downloads--586258?src=rss&attr=newsgaming|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 March 2009|work=TechRadar website|accessdate=20 April 2012}}

This technique was employed by Exent, Triton,[http://steamreview.org/posts/awomo-rto/ SteamReview comparison of AWOMO with other services] at SteamReview.org website and Steam, but has been largely abandoned.

AWOMO issued a press release which claims that Quality and Assurance teams prepare the games for delivery on its platform by generating sets of 'data-time' maps. A neural network subsequently analyses these maps to calculate the most efficient way to deliver the data to a gamer at a given connection speed.{{cite web|title=GDI explains how AWOMO works|url=http://www.prweb.com/releases/awomo/games/prweb1906194.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120907024754/http://www.prweb.com/releases/awomo/games/prweb1906194.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 7, 2012|work=PRWeb|accessdate=20 April 2012}}

AWOMO also intends to provide a "rent-to-own" system, where the user can rent a game for a set period of time, and at the end of said time, the game becomes theirs.{{cite web|url=http://www.awomo.com/?q%3Dnode%2F25 |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2009-07-07 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090519081112/http://www.awomo.com/?q=node%2F25 |archivedate=2009-05-19 }}

The following chart details the increase of speed when AWOMO's method of downloading is used rather than conventional downloading. It is based on published information about Rome: Total War.

• Digital Distribution

• [http://www.awomo.com/ AWOMO] - Official website

Category:Online-only retailers of video games