It is a technology that could revolutionize MMOs. With it, gigantic online worlds can be simulated. The company Improbable has received 502 million US dollars for SpatialOS. With cloud computing, the small studio aims to enable gigantic worlds.
Improbable is a company from London. Their technology is called “SpatialOS”, which is intended to make gigantic online worlds possible. In these, Improbable sees the future of gaming.
Investors believe in the concept so much that they are investing heavily: 502 million US dollars were invested in Improbable during the second round of financing.
Gigantic Online Worlds in Worlds Adrift or Chronicles of Elyria
Among the games that use their technology are:
- “Worlds Adrift“, an MMORPG where flying will be the focus
- the MMORPG Chronicles of Elyria – featuring the “crazy ideas” of aging heroes, which we have reported on frequently
- Lazarus, a 2D shooter
- Vanishing Star: Colony Wars, a real-time strategy game with multiplayer elements
Improbable sees possibilities for MMORPGs, online survival games, or mobile games with their technology.
The idea behind the technology is that future video games will rely on “gigantic virtual worlds”. This is expected to be the market of the future. Players in this world should enter meaningful relationships with each other and with the game worlds. These gigantic worlds should then attract new players to the genre.
Game developers who work with the technology rave that:
- they can focus on content without having to worry about server infrastructure
- they can create gigantic worlds even with small teams, like 20-person studios
- the new technology pushes the boundaries of what was previously possible
Market of the Future – Hundreds of Servers Forming a Gigantic World
The idea of SpatialOS is to connect various micro-servers in such a way that they can represent these gigantic worlds without the user noticing transitions.
SpatialOS is the platform that reorganizes the swarm of micro-servers so that this world functions. Through this, they aim to make “huge player masses simultaneously existing in one world” possible.
They rely on the power of the cloud. SpatialOS claims that one can take a swarm of conventional game engines to simulate a persistent world.
Investors Believe in the Technology, Contributing Over 500 Million US Dollars
That it is not a fantasy what the studio is planning is evident from the interest of investors.
In the second round of financing, investors invested 502 million US dollars in Improbable. Among the investors is SoftBank, a Japanese telecommunications company.
SoftBank believes that the “next big thing” will be gigantic virtual worlds that enrich human life. They will also change the way we view the real world, it is believed.
Improbable has been working in recent years to create the infrastructure for these new virtual worlds.
With the money, Improbable plans to significantly expand its offices in London and San Francisco and continue investing in the technology.
Read more about one of the games that relies on SpatialOS here:
Chronicles of Elyria: MMO has raised 2 million, is out of the basement
