Level 3's CDN Supports High-Volume Traffic Spikes for Multi-player Online Game BROOMFIELD, Colo., July 21
BROOMFIELD, Colo., July 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Level 3
Communications' Content Markets Group today announced that it has been
selected by Funcom, a leading independent developer and publisher of computer
and console games, to be that company's exclusive provider of content delivery
network (CDN) services for the Age of Conan Hyborian Adventures online game
launch and ongoing content patching. Level 3's content delivery services
enable Funcom to deliver game updates during times of extremely high-traffic
volumes.
"The Age of Conan was developed with the latest technologies to be the
next generation of massive multi-player online games (MMOG)," said Ole
Schreiner, vice president of operations at Funcom. "Funcom needed a Tier 1 CDN
provider that could provide the quality, dependability and scalability to
support critical game patch update files at all times. With the Age of Conan
launch, one of the largest MMOG releases in history, Level 3 has proven that
it can deliver game patch updates without issue during peak traffic times of
extremely large flash crowds as hundreds of thousands of players log in to
play the game."
Under the terms of the agreement, Level 3 is delivering origin storage,
caching and download services to provide potentially hundreds of gigabytes per
second (Gbps) of on-demand capacity for game patch updates. Funcom's
developers regularly update the Age of Conan as the game evolves. These
updates are delivered with software patches to the online game via Level 3's
CDN and need to be delivered smoothly to not interrupt the participation in
the game by hundreds of thousands of players. During the first 60 days of the
Age of Conan launch, the Level 3 CDN delivered over 2 petabytes (the
equivalent of over 1 million high-quality online movies) of game patch updates
to the Age of Conan players.
"We are pleased to collaborate with Funcom to deliver the scalable, high-
quality services that the growing online gaming community requires," said
Grant van Rooyen, president of Level 3's Content Markets Group. "The rich
graphic and video environments Funcom delivers require very large amounts of
bandwidth, and Level 3's global network and robust content delivery services
are specifically designed to serve the needs of companies that require quality
and dependability in the delivery of large-file content."
Level 3's content delivery network is designed to accommodate rich media
content for large online audiences. Its CDN improves the speed and efficiency
with which large-file, high-volume content traffic is delivered. The speed,
quality and reliability that are delivered with these services are keys to
providing the real-time user experience demanded by online gamers today.
About Level 3 Communications
Level 3 Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: LVLT) is a leading international
provider of fiber-based communications services. Enterprise, content,
wholesale and government customers rely on Level 3 to deliver services with an
industry-leading combination of scalability and value over an end-to-end fiber
network. Level 3 offers a portfolio of metro and long-haul services, including
transport, data, Internet, content delivery and voice. For more information,
visit http://www.Level3.com.
Level 3 Communications, Level 3, the red 3D brackets and the Level 3
Communications logo are registered service marks of Level 3 Communications,
LLC and/or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. Level 3
services are provided by wholly owned subsidiaries of Level 3 Communications,
Inc. Any other service, product or company names recited herein are trademarks
or service marks of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statement
Some of the statements made in this press release are forward looking in
nature. These statements are based on management's current expectations or
beliefs. These forward looking statements are not a guarantee of performance
and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which
are outside Level 3's control, which could cause actual events to differ
materially from those expressed or implied by the statements. The most
important factors that could prevent Level 3 from achieving its stated goals
include, but are not limited to the company's ability to: successfully
integrate acquisitions; increase the volume of traffic on the network; defend
intellectual property and proprietary rights; develop new products and
services that meet customer demands and generate acceptable margins;
successfully complete commercial testing of new technology and information
systems to support new products and services; attract and retain qualified
management and other personnel; and meet all of the terms and conditions of
debt obligations. Additional information concerning these and other important
factors can be found within Level 3's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Statements in this press release should be evaluated in light of
these important factors. Level 3 is under no obligation to, and expressly
disclaims any such obligation to, update or alter its forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or
otherwise.
SOURCE Level 3 Communications
