Philip Gammill

4/13/2013

To: Gabe Newell PO BOX 1688 Bellevue, WA 98009 GabeNewell@valvesoftware.com From: Philip Gammill 4019 North 57th Street Fort Smith AR, 72904 pgammi01@uafortsmith.edu Date: 4/13/2013 Re: Business Proposal

Valve represents everything good about game companies today: service, technology, quality games, and best of all innovation. A unique opportunity exists for the next generation of gamers if Valve software is interested in capitalizing on it; Unification of games into a cloud service so that hardware on the user end is minimal to non-existent. While this seems like something out of a science fiction film, it isn't. Imagine being able to play games with a controller and a screen, no three to six hundred dollar console required. Input and output is the only requirement to play; how it should be in the Mecca of gaming. Death of game disks is happening with the introduction of down loadable content; Valve already has Steam (it's online video game supermarket) with an average of three million users on at all times. This proposal is to extend current reach of services to include cloud based gaming services, where content is processed remotely from the users' input/output. While not a brand new concept, GaaS or Gaming as a Service (a cloud computing model) has had many issues associated with it's current form. All of these issues are addressable and some no longer exist thanks to recent advancement of infrastructure in parts of the United States. Valve should invest in GaaS servers and personnel in the Kansas City area where recent infrastructure has been expanded to support 1 Gigabit per second speeds. This is the perfect environment to test future user connection speeds in conjunction with cloud gaming services. Currently in the U.S., subscription services like this are scarce.

Philip Gammill

4/13/2013

Valve Software Project Proposal

Gaming as a Service Provider

Were always creating.

2013 Valve Corporation. All rights reserved. Valve, Steam, and Source are registered trademarks of Valve Corporation

Philip Gammill

4/13/2013

Table of Contents

1. Proposal 2. Cover Page 3. Table of Contents 4. Executive Summary 5. Recommendation Report 6. Deliverables 7. Bibliography 8. Appendix

Philip Gammill

4/13/2013

Executive Summary

Why should Valve specifically be involved in such a project? Implementing the service before any other major provider develops one would be exponentially easier with the customer base Steam has already established. Valve is already the number one digital distributor of video games with over 2000 games available for download. One could utilize the 54 million active Steam accounts and offer not only client side services but GaaS services too, eliminating the need to download anything on the users side. It would seem counter intuitive to offer a service that would oppose the companies current distribution model. Licensing would be a horror show for any other private company, whereas Valve already has many independent and major games companies providing content through Steam already, eliminating the need to apply for new licensing. Valve is in an excellent position. Gaming as a Service has ripened properly and is waiting for someone to pick it.

Philip Gammill

4/13/2013

Recommendation Report

Today's gamer must invest a large initial sum in hardware like game consoles and high end gaming PCs in order to play all of the games available. While this is a viable strategy, many consumers without the capital to buy a dedicated gaming device are being marginalized. Currently casual games and, therefore, casual gamers are on the rise, opening up new markets to explore. Unifying gaming devices is the future of gaming. When talking about cloud computing systems, the focus is usually on Platform, Infrastructure, Software, and Network as a Service as the main areas that are presented, but there is another area to watch as it receives more and more attention in the cloud: Gaming as a Service (GaaS). GaaS is not really new and as most are currently aware, on Facebook there are a lot of games available that are running in the cloud already. Since the beginning of 2013, we are seeing more and more cloud focus from the traditional game developers, pushing their future products and services towards the cloud. Will video games eventually be totally powered by cloud computing? While obviously not a new technology, GAAS has yet to be implemented successfully in the United States due to both bandwidth and hardware limitations. These issues are solved by a combination of Google's fiber internet service (infrastructure) and Nvidia's Grid architecture (hardware). Google recently started a 1 Gigabit per second fiber service in the Kansas City area and already plans to extend service to Provo, Utah and Austin, Texas. This is the first time in the United States Gigabit internet has been provided to the public. Vermont Telephone is also a provider of gigabit infrastructure; more and more competitors are appearing to challenge prices and practice of the industry.

Philip Gammill

4/13/2013

Nvidia, a major producer of video graphics adapters, has demonstrated this technology with the Nvidia Grid System. The Grid contains 20 servers and supports 240 graphics processing units per rack, or 720 concurrent gamers. A Gaming as a Service company would provide users with a very unique experience. Users will no longer need to own high end gaming consoles or computers; they can play all the same games on their phones, tablets, laptops, computers, or televisions. Once connected to the service, the user can enter a game without any prior downloaded files or the need to download anything. Users pay by a yearly subscription with different tiers of services (a free service would need to be offered as well.) Revenue can be increased by selling games in stages/parts (also called downloadable content). This is already the current practice amongst most game companies to maximize profit margins on a game without having to develop another separate title. Valve may want to steer away from this practice or use its own means of micro transactions to generate residual income. Making initial content free with available add-ons and various micro purchase options available has proved successful for many companies. Piranha Games, Riot Games, and Meteor Entertainment have all generated tremendous followings with their free to play business model proving its worth. Valve's Steam service is in a great position to be the leader of the GaaS revolution with an already demonstrated following and quality innovations. Development would prove to be a challenge for any company. Valve has the team and the leadership needed to complete such a noble task.

Philip Gammill

4/13/2013

Deliverables:

All processing is done on the GAAS cloud; this would entail implementing some powerful hardware. Nvidia Grid servers would need to be set up in a high bandwidth area like Kansas City or, soon to be, Austin; and then tested before scaled up. A program front end already exists! Behold, the Steam library section will now have an option to store locally, or on the cloud, the users game data. Steam already has a nifty interface. With some development server side, game hosting could easily be implemented into the existing program. As far as availability, Steam is available on Mac, PC, and Linux devices. This means any available phone, tablet, or computer with the proper operating system can use Steam. An input application would need to be developed for all devices. Touch devices will need to be developed independently of the mouse/keyboard and remote inputs.

Philip Gammill

4/13/2013

Bibliography
Streetman, Jonathan. "Rise of the Casual Gamer." Indiana Daily Student. Idsnews, 2 Nov. 2011. Web. 19 Apr. 2013. http://www.idsnews.com/news/weekend/story.aspx?id=83886

Jacobson, Brian. "Sound Practices of Games Business and Design." Valve. Australian Game Developers Conference., 2005. Web. 15 Apr. 2013. http://www.valvesoftware.com/publications/2005/AGDC2005_SoundPractices.pdf

Ruskin, Elan. "How To Go From PC to Cross Platform Development Without Killing Your Studio." Valve. N.p., Feb. 2008. Web. 14 Apr. 2013.

http://www.valvesoftware.com/publications/2008/GDC2008_CrossPlatformDevelopment.pdf

Breckon, Nick (May 29, 2008). "Valve Announces Steam Cloud; Online Network to Store Saved Games Indefinitely". Shacknews. Retrieved September 3, 2008. http://www.shacknews.com/article/52906/valve-announces-steam-cloud-online

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Beaver, Steve. "Gaming as a Service." The Virtualization Practice. N.p., 18 Apr. 2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2013. http://www.virtualizationpractice.com/gaming-as-a-service-21246/

Appendices

http://www.nvidia.com/object/cloud-gaming-benefits.html

http://www.nvidia.com/object/visual-computing-appliance.html
The NVIDIA GRID Visual Computing Appliance (VCA) is a powerful GPU-based system which runs complex applications such as those from Adobe, Autodesk and Dassault Systemes, and sends their graphics output over the network to be displayed on a client computer. This remote GPU acceleration gives users the same rich graphics experience they would get from an expensive, dedicated PC under their desk.

Philip Gammill

4/13/2013

http://fiber.google.com/features/
At up to 1000 Mb per second, Google Fiber is 100 times faster than today's average Internet, allowing you to get what you want instantaneously. You no longer have to wait on things buffering; everything will be ready to go when you are. So whether you are video chatting, uploading family videos, or playing your favorite online games, all you need to do is click and you're there.

http://store.steampowered.com/stats/

http://store.steampowered.com/about/
We have over 2,000 games from Action to Indie and everything in-between. Meet new people, join game groups, form clans, chat in-game and more! With over 40 million potential friends (or enemies), the fun never stops. Whether youre on a PC, Mac, Linux box, mobile device, or even your television, you can enjoy the benefits of Steam.

http://www.valvesoftware.com/company/publications.html http://www.g-cluster.com/eng/#about
G-cluster Global Corporation is the first, largest, most scalable and proven multiplatform cloud gaming service, available to more than eight million game players worldwide. G-cluster provides a fully-featured white label service offering casual and AAA games playable over broadband networks, regardless of the device used to access the service: TV, tablet, mobile or PC.

http://www.virtualizationpractice.com/gaming-as-a-service-21246/