Monumental Partners with Alchemic Dream to Offer Management, Events, Customer Support and Localisation Services

Nottingham, UK. 28 February 2008 - Online Games specialist Alchemic Dream, Inc is proud to announce its partnership with Online Game, Virtual World and Technology Developer Monumental Games.

Alchemic Dream, Inc. offers a set of services to publishers, designed toward one unique goal and two different approaches. Modern MMO players only want to play the most accessible and best supported games, and at the same time publishers and developers want to facilitate access to their product and increase retention rates.

“By partnering with Monumental Games, we are sure that future MMOs developed with the Monumental Technology Suite will take both players and publishers expectations into consideration regarding accessibility and support.” said Stephane Jankowski, General Manager of Alchemic Dream. “In the end, everybody wins”.

The Monumental Technology Suite (MTS) is a complete suite of tools that allows organisations to develop Virtual Worlds and Online Games for a wide range of applications (including computer based training (CBT), entertainment, corporate intranets, and collaborative environments). Alchemic Dream, Inc. brings its customer care expertise to this partnership to help Monumental Games offer the best solution possible to developers.

”At Monumental we realise that the development, launch and ongoing operations of an MMO goes beyond the underlying technology itself,” said Paul Mayze, Business Development Director for Technology at Monumental. “Alchemic Dream’s specialist skillset fits in well alongside our roster of existing partners that include best-of-breed billing, VoIP and hosting solutions.”

About Alchemic Dream Inc.

Alchemic Dream, Inc. is a Canadian company founded in 2001 that specializes in MMOG and Virtual World management, in-game events, customer support and localization. Alchemic Dream has already worked on MMOGs such as Lord of the Rings Online(TM): Shadows of Angmar(TM), Dungeons and Dragons Online(TM): Stormreach(TM), Fury, Pirates of the Burning Seas, Archlord and Kwari. Alchemic Dream also operates the PlayMMO.com gaming portal and the MMO gaming newsfeed MMPOW.com. For more information, please visit http://www.alchemicdream.net.

Published 28, Feb 2008

Monumental Partners with GNi to Offer World Class MMO and Virtual World Hosting Solutions

Nottingham, UK. 08 February 2008 - Virtual World, Online Game and Technology developer Monumental Games today announce a strategic partnership with GNi to provide industry-level hosting to a growing list of technology licensees.

Global hosting, infrastructure planning, and roll-out activities are some of the most important decisions facing managers of successful Virtual World and Online Game projects. Monumental’s growing list of technology licensees are launching Virtual World and MMO products into the global marketplace. These products depend on mission critical hosting, infrastructure and bandwidth solutions to succeed. Monumental’s customers need hosting solutions that provide sustainable competitive advantage, long term cost savings and solid customer support in equal measure both to launch and sustain growth within the global marketplace.

The Monumental Technology Suite (MTS) is a complete suite of tools that allows organisations to develop Virtual Worlds and Online Games for a wide range of applications (including computer based training (CBT), entertainment, corporate intranets, and collaborative environments). It makes sense to partner with organizations that specialise in the hosting of such large scale global projects. Monumental is happy to announce a strategic partnership with Global NetOptex, Inc. (GNi), which will see them offer world-class hosting services and solutions to licensees of the Monumental Technology Suite.

“Making great Virtual Worlds and Massively Multi-player Online games with our technology suite is only one of many aspects of developing and launching a successful product. The GNi guys know what they’re doing and specialize in games, so we are proud and confident to offer their services to our technology licensees. Our partnership with GNi offers MTS licensees a complete hosting solution from pre-production through to launch and beyond” said Rik Alexander, Monumental’s CEO.

“Our partnership with Monumental continues to show that great developers know that well built and managed infrastructure is the foundation of delivery of a successful Online Game or Virtual World and we are pleased that Monumental has recognized and chosen GNi to provide this critical foundation”, stated Philip Bouchard, GNi CEO

GNi offers a range of industry-leading networking, internet transit and consultancy services, providing world-class 24/7 facilities for the hosting and management of customers’ critical data, applications and networks. Data center facilities are located throughout California in San Francisco, San Jose, El Segundo, Sacramento, Oakland as well as Chandler Arizona, Frankfurt Germany, and Tokyo, Japan. GNi has been specializing in the provisioning of high grade hosting solutions for games and digital media companies for over three years making them a leading industry veteran. GNi provides games companies with fully-managed, dedicated game hosting services, comprising best-of-breed server and network infrastructure, and expert network design, deployment and operation.

GNi is a leading provider of customer-centric managed services that extend customers’ infrastructure while dramatically reducing their total cost of ownership (TCO). GNi provides the expertise, resources and solutions to meet and exceed customers’ unique onsite and off-site requirements. Services include wired connectivity, world-class network security, disaster recovery, comprehensive server management and hosting, networking operations and management, and network consulting.The company’s Games and Digital Media division was formed from the recent acquisition of Online Game Services, Inc. and allows GNi to strengthen its game service provider business model with industry-leading, fully-managed dedicated games hosting environments and Internet transit around the world. For further information, visit http://www.gni.com.

Published 08, Feb 2008

IGA Partners For Football Superstars In-Game Ads

Nottingham, UK. 29 January 2008 - Officials from in-game advertising company IGA Worldwide have announced an exclusive partnership with UK publisher CyberSports to place static and dynamic ads in forthcoming massively multiplayer online PC soccer game Football Superstars.The game is being developed for CyberSports by Monumental Games, giving users control of a single player rather than a whole team - and allowing for full control of their career both on and off the pitch, including a potential millionaire lifestyle.The game will be free to play, with all participants in the 3, 5, 7 or 11-a-side matches being human, apart from computer controlled goalkeepers.

Although no specific advertisers were mentioned as part of the deal IGA anticipates that a variety of companies will be interested in making using of in-game video screens, football and team kit designs. Advertising opportunities will also be present in the off-pitch virtual world and through the in-game mobile phone communication system.

Commenting on the partnership, IGA Worldwide CEO Justin Townsend said: “We are pleased to announce our partnership with CyberSports. Football Superstars features a genuinely unique approach to the MMO genre, as well as providing relevant and innovative opportunities for advertisers, from dynamically-updateable stadium ads and tournament sponsorships to fully interactive stores and even avatar clothing. The possibilities are almost endless, and attractive to a wide range of brands.”

Published 29, Jan 2008

Monumental celebrate 10 MMO licensees in one month

Nottingham, UK. 28 November 2007 - MMO middleware and online game developer Monumental Games have signed up 10 development teams to their Monumental Technology Suite in the first month of their new Prototype Licence.

Developers looking to tackle the daunting task of creating their own MMO have been turning to Monumental for assistance since the middleware provider launched its new Prototype Licence one month ago.

The Monumental Technology Suite, one of the world’s leading MMO and Virtual World development platforms, is proving to be a great success as the company have signed up 10 new licensees in the first month of their new offering.

Selected from over 50 applicants the new licensees are using the engine to develop new MMO titles to a prototype level, thus helping them to source additional investment and attract publisher interest. Applicants range from professional studios to programmer collectives born from the modding community.

‘We see this as a vindication of our strategy of supporting the smaller developer. Many of these teams have projects that will be hugely attractive to investors and publishers, and by using our platform they ensure that when the time comes they will be in the strongest possible position to negotiate a deal,’ says Paul Mayze, Business and Marketing Manager, Technology. ‘We are already Europe’s leading platform for MMO and Virtual World development. With the growth we are experiencing now we are on course for our target of being the world leader in two years.’

The licensees were selected based on a number of criteria, including originality, technological feasibility, opportunities for revenue, and the team itself.
‘Clearly, many of these applications have been generated by the new Licence – but increased investment interest in virtual worlds is also helping to fuel development growth,’ says Rik Alexander, CEO of Monumental.

Published 05, Dec 2007

Monumental Double in Observer Future 500

Nottingham, UK. 30 November 2007 – MMO middleware and online game developer Monumental Games achieve double success in this year’s Future 500, published in UK national newspaper The Observer.

In the supplement, which identifies key figures in up-and-coming companies, both CEO Rik Alexander and Business and Marketing Manager Alan O’Dea were hailed as ‘Rising Stars’.

From small tea producers to new energy stars, Observers The Future 500 is ‘a celebration of the collective passion and determination which is breeding business growth across the country’.

‘Obviously it is an honour to be selected for inclusion in the Future 500, but I feel this reflects the hard work of all Monumental employees as opposed to just being a personal accolade,’ says CEO Rik Alexander.

The list of 500 individuals, representing ten business categories, has been developed in partnership with trade publications and judges. Luminaries worthy of praise were ‘picked because of their clear persistence, passion and devotion to achieving greatness in their professional life’.

Ed Bartlett, media category judge, from IGA Worldwide comments: “The quality of entrants to the media category has been astonishing, which bodes extremely well for the future media landscape in the UK.’

Published 30, Nov 2007

Monumental Offer New Prototype Licence for MMO Developers

Nottingham, UK. 16 October 2007 - MMO middleware and online game developer Monumental Games are now offering a fee-free ‘Prototype Licence’ for their Monumental Technology Suite (MTS) to help developers take their MMO game concepts to next level.

Developing an MMO game is a daunting task at the best of times, but when the costs of licensing a commercial game engine are taken into account, it can seem all but impossible to get a project off the ground.

Monumental whose suite of tools for MMO production has been developed continuously for the last 7 years, is changing this situation by offering a new fee-free ‘Prototype Licence’.

‘The nature of game development is changing in a fundamental manner, and it is game developers with new ideas, concepts and methods that will champion growth within our industry. Monumental are committed to minimising the challenges for such developers.’ says Paul Mayze, Business and Marketing Manager, Technology.

Intended for smaller development studios, who are typically restricted by the substantial middleware investment required for MMO titles, the new licence allows full, unrestricted use of the Monumental Technology Suite.

Under the new model, studios can develop a polished, operational prototype of their product. This will in turn help game developers secure funding, publishing, and distribution deals.

‘Although historically the Monumental Technology Suite has been an engine of choice for larger developers, we are still very much on the side of smaller studios,’ says Rik Alexander CEO. ‘While smaller studios have the imagination, inspiration and drive to create the next generation of MMO titles, sometimes they need a leg-up, financially speaking to kick-start their projects. Our new Prototype Licence, with our revised developer support programme, will help them move to the next level.’

Monumental Games’ commitment to MTS is reinforced by their own use of the suite in developing the forthcoming MMO ‘Football Superstars’ in conjunction with CyberSports.

Published 16, Oct 2007

London Skills Week Seminar

Monumental will be presenting a session on Thursday 25 October during the Game Production Day of the Skills Week focusing on the skills used throughout the multiple stages of Massivly Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) development .

Skills Week’ consists of 5 day-long seminars open to practitioners with experience of videogames and related industries, such as design, web work, animation, film and TV. It will run from the 22nd to the 26th of October as part of the London Games Festival.

Following last year’s successful ‘The Secrets of Games Production’ Skillset now present a larger and more comprehensive series of master classes and workshops. Aimed at upskilling the games workforce and enabling those interested in transferring from other sectors, Skills Week will support all people interested in finding work in videogames.

Location: Central st. martins (Map)

Production is the key to modern game design, as it can deliver vital optimisation in an environment with multi-million pound budgets and teams of 60 -120 developers.

Thursday at Central St. Martins will offer a glimpse into the work of game producers from all parts of the games industry.

10:00 - Modern Console Production Techniques - Sion Lenton, Blitz Games
11:00 - Break
11:15 - Producing Viva Pinata - Steve Brand, Producer, Rare
12:15 - LUNCH
13:00 - MMO’s are a service not a game - Alan O’Dea & Paul Mayze, Monumental Games
14:00 - Is Agile - The silver bullet ?
15:00 - Break
15:15 - What is an assitant producer - Toby Allen, Sumo
16:30 - Close

Website [ Link ]

Published 12, Oct 2007

Become a Football Superstar

If you dream of life as a football star, a Nottingham company wants you to make those dreams become a reality… a virtual reality that is.

A new computer game created in Nottingham is set to make people all over the world into ‘Football Superstars’.

Monumental Games is two years old and has so far been doing work behind the scenes for other games companies.

“We’ve now about 38 staff in Nottingham. There’s always been a very strong tradition of video game companies here,” says Alan O’Dea, the company’s business and marketing manager.

Bling

Football Superstars is their first full game, and it allows multi-players to join via the web to play the game as well as live like a professional footballer with a WAG who’ll need plenty of ‘bling and buy’ to keep her happy.

“You work your way up the ranks to become a premiership player. You actually play as a single player in a team which doesn’t happen in any other game” says Alan.

Twist

Alan likens the game play to World of Warcraft, where players take on a personality: in this case also owning cars, houses and even buying clothes.

The twist is that the actual football is ‘played’Â in this 3D virtual world with other game players at their PCs across the globe.

G-O-A-L!!!!

The Monumental games team are hard at work putting the finishing touches on Football Superstars. It’ll be previewed at Game City-the computer games event held in Nottingham in October - then released in 2008.

Meanwhile there’s a chance for you to create one of the goal celebrations that will programmed into Football Superstars. Listen to Nigel Bell’s chat with Alan for more details.

Article and Radio Broadcast [ Link ]

Game City [ Link ]

Published 25, Sep 2007

MMO Engine Round-up

It’s the big risk, bigger reward gamble for developers, but when it comes to MMOGs, at least there’s plenty of middleware to choose from

MONUMENTAL

Technology: Monumental Technology Suite 1.2.5.5
Clients: Available on request
Host Platforms: PC (Windows/Linux), Xbox 360
and PS3 planned
Integration with: 3ds Max, Diamondware, dPVS, FMOD, Maya, SpeedTree, Vivox
Price: Prototype, production and commercial licenses available
Contact: Alan O’Dea, +44 115 958 3178, enquiries@monumentalgames.com

Rising from the lessons learnt from Climax’s stillborn Warhammer MMOG, Monumental Games has taken a fluid, production-centric approach to its middleware. It offers a complete tool-chain for rapid content creation by artists and designers, enabling them to preview their assets and get them into the game.

The tech also uses many procedural techniques for both terrain and characters to allow for scalable asset and content creation.

Link [ article ]

Published 29, Aug 2007

Interview with Monumental Games’ Rik Alexander

Monumental Games has been in the news recently with a few announcements so Andrew Knight of MMO news site MMO-Gamer took it upon himself to interview this Nottingham-based MMOG middleware and game developer. The latest announcements were about their middlware using Vivox voice communication technology and the announcement of their first title, Football Superstars.

The MMO Gamer: Could you please tell us who you are and what role you have at Monumental Games, please?

Rik Alexander: Hi there, my name is Rik Alexander and I’m the CEO of Monumental Games.

The MMO Gamer: When was Monumental Games formed and where is it based?

Rik Alexander: Monumental was formed in September 2005 by Rocco Loscalzo the CTO and me. We’re based in Nottingham and have just moved to new offices in the centre of the city!

The MMO Gamer: Could you tell us what Monumental Games does, what are its main products?

Rik Alexander: We set up Monumental to make Massively Multi-player games and provide MMO Middleware to a rapidly growing MMO market. Football Superstars is our first MMO game and the Monumental Technology Suite (MTS) is our MMO middleware solution.

The MMO Gamer: Who are the owners of MG and how are your products funded?

Rik Alexander: Monumental is a completely independent studio owned by key directors and members of staff. We’re mainly self funded and also have a number of partnerships including the one with CyberSports for Football Superstars.

The MMO Gamer: How many employees are there at Monumental Studios now and how much has this changed since the company’s inception in 2005?

Rik Alexander: It started out with Roc and me working out of our living rooms back in September 05, we quickly recruited Gylan Hunter as the art director and we remained at 3 staff for around 6 months before moving into our first offices and adding Luke Smith as Development Director in July 06. We now have nearly 30 extremely talented staff at our offices and we’re always recruiting. Monumental has changed so much since we started it’s very hard to believe we’ve come so far so quickly.

The MMO Gamer: On the frontpage of your website you state ‘Over the coming months Monumental Games will be announcing a number of significant game development deals, technology and business partnerships.’ Are you in a position to give any further details or hints about these?

Rik Alexander: Well you’ve heard about the first one - Football Superstars - already, the new website and middleware licensing structure has just been finalised so we’ll be giving that a big push over the next couple of months, along with announcing the various partnerships we’ve been working on for the last year. Everything else is currently under wraps so you’ll have to wait a little while longer. All I can say is stay tuned as we definitely haven’t finished yet!

The MMO Gamer: Moving on to your recently announced project, Football Superstars Your FAQ implies, although it doesn’t state, that you will be self publishing the game. Is this the case, if so, what made you decide to go down that route? If that is not the case have you found a publisher yet or are you still looking for one?

Rik Alexander: The original plan was to self publish Football Superstars with CyberSports. However since we launched the website and announced the game to the world at large the global demand has been significantly greater than we anticipated. We’re now in talks with various established MMO publishers who can help us distribute and co-market the game throughout Europe to start with and quickly launch into the rest of the world once we’ve gained some momentum.

The MMO Gamer: Do you intend to market the game in the US, if so can we expect to see a name change to cater for their heathen ways?

Rik Alexander: Interesting question. We spent a fair amount of time agonising over the name of the game quite some time back, and eventually made the decision to call it Football Superstars. Football is the name of the game we all know, love and have grown up with. The game of football means so much to the fans we thought it would completely dilute the meaning, community and passion of the game if we called it soccer. Right now, we’re keeping the name as Football Superstars regardless of where we launch the product including the US.

The MMO Gamer: Can we expect to see recognizable tournaments in the game, such as The World Cup and The European Cup?

Rik Alexander: Yes definitely, we’re looking to tap into already established communities and fan bases that surround football. Part of that process is to recreate recognisable leagues, competitions and tournaments so that players can instantly step into our football world and start playing.

The MMO Gamer: As our last question, is there anything you’d like to add or tell our readers about Monumental Games or its upcoming products?

Rik Alexander: The first thing is to thank you for getting in touch, we love talking about our company and products and are humbled by the reception we’re getting from everyone so far. Thanks to everyone out there that is interested in what we’re up to.

Link [ Article ]

Published 16, Jul 2007

Monumental Games Chooses Vivox to Deliver Proven and Scalable Voice to MMOG Customers

Vivox Voice Solution and Service to be Integrated into the Monumental Technology Suite

Framingham, MA – May 8, 2007 -Vivox, the leading provider of integrated voice services for online games and virtual worlds, today announced an integration and joint marketing agreement with Monumental Games and the inclusion of the Vivox Precision Studio in the Monumental Technology Suite (MTS).

The inclusion of the Vivox Precision Studio SDK in the Monumental Technology Suite now offers game developers a full-featured voice solution with the proven ability to deliver voice over the internet on the massive scale that online games demand. Multiple options exposed through robust APIs assure that voice can be deployed in ways that best match the game world, strategy, and style of play. No matter what the social structure of the game, MTS and Vivox provide the options, capabilities, and infrastructure to connect players simply and intuitively. Vivox communication services are professionally hosted and managed and tightly integrated into the game, with a user interface that is controlled by the developer. All players communicate clearly and naturally on persistent or dynamically created voice channels with full server-side mixing that eliminates demand on the game servers and minimizes local CPU impact.

“Voice communications is no longer an accessory for multi-player games,” said Rob Seaver, CEO of Vivox. “Players expect the highest quality integrated communications. This partnership enables Monumental Games to deliver the feature-rich communications services required in today’s market with the assurance that they and their customers will be supported by a team of communication experts. We are very happy to be a part of Monumental Games’ ongoing commitment to providing the best possible solutions to their customers.”

“Our players, our licensees, and the market in general all expect integrated and enhanced voice communications in the next generation of MMO games,” said Rik Alexander, CEO of Monumental Games. “By partnering with a sophisticated market leader like Vivox, we can develop imaginative and innovative next generation MMO games and provide unique gameplay, communication and community experiences for the long term.”

The Monumental Technology Suite (MTS) with Vivox Precision Studio is available for immediate integration. For more information please visit www.monumentalgames.com, or contact Monumental Games directly at alan.odea@monumentalgames.com.

About Vivox, Inc.

Vivox provides online games, virtual worlds, and online communities with managed voice communication services that are simple to integrate and enhance gameplay and community. Vivox’s carrier-grade, customizable solutions help online games and communities create improved offerings and extend their user base. Today, Vivox is bringing voice to approximately one million subscribers in more than 180 countries. For more information visit www.vivox.com.

About Monumental Games

Monumental Games provides full-service professional game development services to the video game industry, produce large scale consumer MMO game products for the global marketplace and develop the Monumental Technology Suite a complete MMO game development technology solution.

Monumental Technology Suite (MTS) is a complete production solution for MMO project development. MTS enables MMO developers to focus on content creation, product quality, creativity, added-value, USP features, and innovation. MTS contains everything investors, publishers, developers, educators, governments, researchers, and media/license owners need to take MMO products quickly, securely and cost effectively to market.

Link [ Article ]

Published 08, May 2007

Football Superstars Massively Multi-player Online Soccer Game Announced

Nottingham, UK, 3 May 2007 – CyberSports today announced its arrival as the industry’s newest and most innovative games publisher. CyberSports’ mission will be to publish world-class global, massively multi-player online (MMO) sports games using leading-edge technology.

Malcolm Clark, CEO of CyberSports simultaneously announced details of the company’s first title, Football Superstars, which promises to deliver a unique football game experience. Football Superstars is being created in collaboration with Nottingham based developer Monumental Games, led by former Climax Online Studio Head Rik Alexander.

An online MMO game for the PC, Football Superstars will allow players to meet within a utopian soccer-styled virtual world and take part in 3, 5, 7 and 11-a-side football matches. Players will take control of a single footballer and will interact on and off the pitch living the football superstar lifestyle whilst pursuing fame, glory and success, striving to join the best clubs, compete at the highest level and progress within the game through skill and sporting prowess. The player’s will exist in a persistent football-themed world and be able to join or form and manage their own teams and careers whilst engaging in various leagues, competitions, events and tournaments.

‘The MMO is the perfect platform for team sports games,’ said Malcolm Clark, CEO of CyberSports. ‘This is the focus that has enabled us to bring authenticity and real competition to a football game for the first time, by playing against real people instead of AI. Participants pit their skills against those of others in an MMOG where everyone knows the rules. Breath-taking design, a brilliant team and world-class technology has produced a game with lasting appeal targeted at a huge global audience. We’re all big football fans here and it shows.’

Rik Alexander, CEO of Monumental Games added ‘Football SuperStars will capture both the magic of the beautiful game on the pitch and also to bring football lifestyle elements like fame, fortune and glory to the table. Football already has great communities and fan bases and we’re hoping to capture that passion and bring it together in a virtual world where players can literally live, breathe and eat football.’

Website: Football Superstars

CyberSports - Virtual Sports. Real Competition.

CyberSports Limited is a new developer and publisher of MMOG sports games. It’s mission is to dominate the online sports game market by building and operating integrated, highly detailed and authentic, persistent 3D virtual multi-player sports worlds appealing to both casual and hardened gamers. CyberSports’ first game is Football Superstars, a football-based MMOG where each player controls and develops their football star avatar both on and off the pitch.

Web: www.cybersportsworld.com
E-mail: enquiries@cybersportsworld.com
Web: www.footballsuperstars.com

Monumental Games

Monumental Games (Nottingham, UK) is a game development studio specialising in the design, production, operation and management of large-scale consumer MMO game products for the global marketplace.

Monumental Games develop the Monumental Technology Suite (MTS) a complete MMO game development middleware solution. MTS enables MMO developers to focus on content development, product quality, creativity, added-value, USP features and innovation. MTS contains everything investors, publishers, developers, educators, governments, researchers and media/license owners need to take MMO products quickly, securely and cost effectively to market.

Web: www.monumentalgames.com
E-mail: enquiries@monumentalgames.com

Published 03, May 2007

Life is a Serious Game for City Reality Wizard

Nottingham, United Kingdom, 12 April 2007 - Taking risks can turn out to be the difference between failure and success. Starting up your own business from scratch and leaving the security of your old job behind is a daunting prospect for any budding entrepreneur.

One man who is certainly aware of this risk is Rik Alexander, CEO of Monumental Games; a company that designs, develops and hosts Massive Multiplayer Online games (MMOs) for a rapidly expanding industry.

Gone are the days when video gaming was considered a childish pursuit. Gaming has come a long way since monotone ping-pong games on cartridge-based systems that used to burn marks onto your television screen. The worldwide computer and video game market is now worth billions of pounds and rivals the movie and music industries. The MMO arena is at the forefront of this, with millions of gamers playing in a virtual world online. The success of World Of Warcraft has proved that this side of gaming has a bright future.

Rik started the company with his business partner Rocco Loscalzo in 2005, after ten years working in computer and video games. His credits include Moto GP, Frogger and Rollercoaster Tycoon. Meeting for lunch at Fellows Morton and Clayton, the first impression was of a man who clearly loves his work. Talking about what he does for a living was a pleasure for him and he was filled with enthusiasm when asked about Monumental Games.

He said; “I set myself a goal a few years back that I was going to have my own business by the age of 32.”

“It’s the old story of starting at the bottom and working your way up. I started in games-testing and went from there, watching and learning, waiting patiently for the time to strike out on my own. I have worked as a director on some pretty big projects and that experience has proved invaluable.”

Rik originally gave the business a 50% chance of success, but last year it turned over 1m and is due to double that this year. Over two years Monumental Games has outgrown it’s surroundings, and what started as a bedroom business with three staff has become an office-based company employing 22 people. The current team includes designers, coders, graphic artists and online support. The anticipation of future success has even prompted Rik to move to a larger office which may soon house 40 staff.

“We will be moving to new premises above the Hard Rock Cafe over the summer. Initially it will fit 40, but if the growth rate continues as it is, we may have to move again the following year.” As well as designing and developing, Monumental Games also provides software that allows other companies to develop their own MMOs. Their Technology Suite had its most recent incarnation launched last month.

Rik had some words of caution for people wanting to make their own online games. “There is a huge risk in developing MMOs because it involves constant monitoring and support. It’s not like some video games where support stops the day it reaches the shelves. From concept to completion, a game can take 18 months, then you have the job of keeping all your users happy. Because the players are always online, we need to employ games masters to support and monitor activity within the game.” Computer games have found themselves in the headlines for the wrong reasons in recent years, with games like Grand Theft Auto being blamed for violent behaviour in children. Rik thinks this is just an occupational hazard of any part of the entertainment industry.

“Its unfortunate that every form of entertainment seems to get the blame for violence, and in this respect computer games have become a victim of their own success. I think that most reasonable people know the difference between fantasy and reality.” But it is in fantasy that Rik is making his mark, spotting the potential to provide escapism for those who holiday in a virtual world.

The attraction of MMOs is that the player can immerse themselves in an alternate reality with thousands of other people. A player can choose how they look, what they wear, what skills they have and who they want to interact with. When put like that, and in comparison to the real world, it is easy to see the appeal. When asked about the most popular MMO, World of Warcraft, Rik is full of admiration. “It is a shining light for the games industry. World of Warcraft is a true inspiration that shows what can be done in gaming.”

Rik has high hopes for the projects that he has in the pipeline, but was tight-lipped about the finer details. The nature of the games industry means that it’s best to keep any projects under wraps to stop other companies stealing your ideas and pipping you to the post. A slip of the tongue could cost him a lot of money. We won’t have to wait long, though, as Rik’s next project will be announced in May and will be launched in April, 2008. With work lined up for all next generation consoles and PCs the future is looking good for Rik and his team. If the online games market continues to grow at the rate it has over recent years Monumental Games could prove to be a monumental success.

Reprinted from Nottingham Evening Post

Published 12, Apr 2007

Monumental Games Technology utilises Nvidia’s NVPerfHUD

Nottingham, UK, 7 April  2007 - Monumental Games utilises Nvidia’s NVPerfHUD analysis tool to optimise its Online game and Virtual World development middleware technology, ‘Monumental Technology Suite’.

Monumental utilise a number of best of breed tools to ensure that its MMO development middleware technology solution, ‘Monumental Technology Suite’ is the most effective, efficient and technologically superior MMO development solution available to developers of MMO projects. One of these tools is Nvidia’s analysis tool NVPerfHud.

NVPerfHUD

Part of NVPerfKit, NVPerfHUD is a powerful performance analysis tool that gives you unparalleled insight into how your application uses the GPU. It allows you to analyze your application from a global view to individual draw calls, providing numerous graphics pipeline experiments, graphs of performance metrics, and interactive visualization modes.

NVPerfHUD has four modes:

• Performance Dashboard: Identify high-level bottlenecks with graphs and directed experiments.
• Debug Console: Review DirectX Debug runtime messages, NVPerfHUD warnings, and custom messages.
• Frame Debugger: Freeze the current frame and step through your scene one draw call at a time, dissecting them with advanced State Inspectors.
• Frame Profiler: Automatically identify your most expensive rendering states and draw calls and improve performance with detailed GPU instrumentation data.

NVPerfHUD: http://developer.nvidia.com/object/nvperfhud_home.html
Screenshots: http://developer.nvidia.com/object/nvperfhud-screenshots.html

Published 07, Apr 2007

Monumental Games integrates DiamondWare’s high-definition 3D positional voice VoIP

San Francisco, CA – 6 March 2007 – DiamondWare and Monumental Games announce today the availability of DiamondWare’s high-definition 3D positional voice technology with the Monumental Technology Suite MMOG middleware. This unique voice technology mirrors real-life communications by combining 3D positioning with high-definition audio.

“DiamondWare’s 3D voice technology is a key enabler of community, game-play and entertainment features for our customers” said Rik Alexander, CEO of Monumental Games. “3D voice will enable an even greater range of options for developing immersive, realistic and involving game environments using the Monumental Technology Suite”

“An immersive digital environment has to let anyone walk up to other people and interact. For voice to feel real, it needs to work the same way. These are new problems, requiring a new kind of technology. And that’s what we’ve built,” stated Keith Weiner, CEO of DiamondWare. “For a user to make sense of the large number of conversations occurring in any online world, three capabilities are needed. First, each voice’s 3D position helps the listener’s brain tune in or out by its direction, like at a crowded party. Second, voices get quiet as people move apart, so there are not too many conversations at once. Third, high-definition (32 kHz) gives the kind of sound quality found in digital home theater, as compared to the telephone.”

About DiamondWare

DiamondWare provides best-of-breed real time voice technology with ground-breaking 3D positioning and high-definition quality. Applications include games, simulators, conferencing, VoIP, and radio over IP. Customers include the US Special Forces, Navy, Air Force, as well as Second Life, game developers, carriers, and equipment manufacturers. DiamondWare has received acclaim and recognition from numerous organizations, including TMC Labs Innovation Award, Best of Show at Internet Telephony, Product of the Year from Communications Convergence magazine, and has been listed in the Pulver 100 list since 2004. The company has a number of patents pending. Founded in 1994, DiamondWare has headquarters in Mesa, Arizona. More information is available at http://www.dw.com.

About Monumental Games

Monumental Games (Nottingham, UK) is a game development studio specialising in the design, production, operation and management of large-scale consumer MMO game products for the global marketplace.

Monumental Games develop the Monumental Technology Suite (MTS) a complete MMO game development middleware solution. MTS enables MMO developers to focus on content development, product quality, creativity, added-value, USP features and innovation. MTS contains everything investors, publishers, developers, educators, governments, researchers and media/license owners need to take MMO products quickly, securely and cost effectively to market.

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Published 06, Mar 2007

Monumental Technology Suite to Incorporate SpeedTree

Nottingham, UK, 24 January 2007 - Monumental Games, producers of the commercial MMOG development platform (Monumental Technology Suite) today announced that they will be partnering with IDV to integrate the SpeedTree solution into the Monumental Technology Suite.

Monumental Games Technology Suite licensees will now have access to SpeedTree’s advanced user-configurable, procedurally generated tree modelling content creation solutions, enabling them to quickly, cheaply, and efficiently populate Massively Multiplayer Online game environments with highly detailed, dynamic trees, plants, and foliage.

IDV’s SpeedTreeRT product delivers low polygon, procedurally generated, highly detailed foliage, trees, and plants, with adjustable wind effects, seamless Level of Detail (LOD) transitions, and a library of hundreds of tree models and species. SpeedTreeRT also includes SpeedTree CAD, which will enable Monumental Technology Suite licensees to edit and preview wind physics, automatically compute seamless LOD models, export composite textures, and 360° billboard images.

Rocco Loscalzo, Chief Technology Officer at Monumental Games said ‘licensees will now have an even greater range of options for developing immersive, realistic, and involving game environments using the Monumental Technology Suite MMO game development platform.’

Rik Alexander, CEO at Monumental games said ‘SpeedTree is the industry standard foliage generation solution. SpeedTree is a great product and fits perfectly with our policy of full middleware integration and customer satisfaction for our Monumental Technology Suite licensees. We’re looking forward to seeing what incredible results will be created in our licencee’s games in the future using this incredible technology.’

Monumental Technology Suite significantly reduces game developers time to market, enabling them to focus on content development, game-play, product quality, creativity, and innovation.

About the Monumental Technology Suite

The Monumental Games Technology Suite has been developed as a complete and robust game development solution for Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG). Monumental Technology Suite contains everything a game developer, media, and/or content producer needs to get their MMO game products quickly, securely, and cost effectively to market.

The Monumental Technology Suite integrates seamlessly with existing production pipelines and acts as a complete standalone development solution for all your MMO game development needs. The Monumental Technology Suite is designed to work throughout prototyping, development, beta, alpha, testing, launch, and live operation stages of MMO game development.

The Monumental Technology Suite is a comprehensive, secure, and robust toolset for use throughout the entire MMO game development pipeline. Additional third party technology, systems, and services can easily be integrated with the Monumental Technology Suite to enable enhanced, bespoke functionality which bolster MMO developer’s production pipeline through integration with existing work practices, technologies, middleware, components, tools, and techniques.

Monumental Technology Suite is designed as a series of modular components that allow game developers, media, and/or content producers too quickly, securely, and cost effectively develop their MMO game products and launch them within the online game market.

The Monumental Technology Suite significantly reduces game developers time to market, enabling them to focus on content development, game-play, product quality, creativity, and innovation.

Monumental Technology Suite is based on unique component systems. These systems integrate seamlessly to form a stable, secure, robust, and feature rich toolset.

• Server Technology
• Client Technology
• Development / Live Management Tools

About Monumental Games

Monumental Games, founded in 2005, is a leading independent developer of Massively Multiplayer Online Games and licensor of game development middleware technology.

Monumental Games is involved in licensed third party video game development projects (PC, Console, and MMO) with numerous AAA+ video game development studios and publishers (Codemasters, Eidos, Climax, and Kuju) and develop independent products based on internal Intellectual Property (PC, Console, and MMO).

Monumental Games license the cutting-edge, feature rich, MMO game development middleware solution (Monumental Technology Suite) for use with its in-house and external third party developed MMO game products.

About SpeedTree

SpeedTreeRT, winner of the 2005 Front Line Award for middleware, delivers highly realistic user-configurable, procedurally generated, foliage, trees and plants, with adjustable wind effects, seamless LOD transitions, and a library of hundreds of tree, plant species. SpeedTreeRT includes SpeedTreeCAD, a Windows application used to create and edit animated trees in real-time. More information is available at www.speedtree.com.

About IDV

Interactive Data Visualization, Inc. (IDV), develops software products with a focus on real-time three dimensional applications for the game development, visual simulation, engineering visualization, and animation industries. IDV, a privately held corporation, was founded in 1999 in Columbia, South Carolina. More information is available at www.idvinc.com.

Published 24, Jan 2007

Monumental Games Technology Suite Selected by Neogence Studios for Fantasy MMO

Raleigh NC, USA, November 2006 – Neogence Studios, LLC, an independent developer of evolutionary massively multi-user online (MMO) games, worlds, and entertainment, today announced that it has selected the Monumental Games Technology Suite (”MGTS”) for use in Immortal Destinyâ„¢, the world’s first evolutionary next-generation massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

“The Monumental Game Technology Suite is one of the best MMORPG engines available on the market, featuring cutting edge graphics, robust tools, and solid server-side technology.” said Robert Rice, CEO of Neogence Studios and Author of MMO Evolution.

“The team at Monumental really understands that MMO developers need powerful and flexible tools to create innovative next-generation games. MGTS will shave at least two years off of the development schedule for our first title.”

“Given the need for top class middleware in the rapidly growing MMO market, our tools and technology provide the perfect foundation for those developers and publishers who want to bring their MMO game to market cheaper, faster and with less risk.” said Rik Alexander, CEO of Monumental.

“By providing a flexible, modular, and scalable solution based on proven technology, we allow developers to focus on creating unique and original games instead of reinventing the technology wheel. This saves time and reduces the cost of developing new titles.”

The Monumental Games Technology Suite provides developers with an established content creation pipeline and advanced tools that enable them to focus on the creation of gameplay almost immediately. This will significantly reduce their time to market and also avoids many of the expensive technology risks inherent in creating MMO games.

“We are very excited to be working with Monumental. The technology suite is perfect for Immortal Destinyâ„¢ and allows us to create stunning environments, spectacular effects, and ground-breaking gameplay that will set a new standard in MMORPG design.” commented Robert.

“We looked at and evaluated other middleware solutions, but these were all either limited to front-end client graphic engines or simply did not have core features and functionality that we require for the unique content and gameplay we are creating.”

“Neogence seems to be one of the few developers in the industry aggressively focused on creating well designed and original content.” said Rik.

“With so many generic new titles being announced featuring similar content and gameplay, we have high expectations for Immortal Destinyâ„¢ and we are pleased that Neogence has selected the Monumental Game Technology Suite to realize their vision for evolutionary games.”

About Neogence Studios, LLC

Neogence Studios, LLC is an independent developer of massively multi-user online worlds and games for the global market and is based in Raleigh, NC. Neogence is dedicated to evolutionary game design with radical originality and innovation to create unique content and virtual worlds. www.neogence.com

About Monumental Games Ltd

Monumental Games Ltd is a UK-based developer of Massively Multiplayer Online Games and provides MMO Middleware to the industry. Formed in 2005 by former Climax Online employees, they have a research and development studio in Nottingham, UK.

Contacts:

Robert Rice: inquiry@neogence.com, Neogence Studios, LLC
Rik Alexander: enquiries@monumentalgames.com, Monumental Games Ltd.

Published 13, Nov 2006