GDC: BigWorld Announces MMO VOIP Solution

BigWorld, a provider of Massively Multiplayer Online Game technology, announced the integration of DiamondWare's 3D VOIP client into the BigWorld Technology Suite. The BigWorld Technology Suite is an integrated set of tools, software and systems that provides the underlying technology and content development tools required to produce an MMOG. "DiamondWare is excited to bring its real world, military proven technology to the BigWorld MMOG space. The importance of 3D voice is that it provides a tactical awareness and control, enabling greater cohesion and coordination in complex team play," said DiamondWare CEO Keith Weiner. "For the first time, voice can be used to create new social relationships between people meeting in an online game," he added. BigWorld Technology Suite aims to provide operators and studios with a lower total time-to-release and cost of ownership. The BigWorld Server architecture allows operators to run several games on a single server cluster, reducing the cost of running the game, while the content creation pipeline reduces the time and cost of building and filling out the complex worlds required in next-generation games.