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As for developers, they can access Antix’s Game Developer Kit, port or write their games and then have those games certified and then placed on the Antix Warehouse for further distribution by Antix’s partners and clients. When developers do get the kit they initially see AGP as an execution environment for games, but really it is several things: it’s a software client that enforces the digital rights of the content, it manages the life cycle of the game from installation through execution and it eliminates the impact of fragmentation that’s due to device differences in CPUs, APIs, OSes, physical input mechanisms, binary packaging, etc.
AGP separates the distribution format of the game from the execution format - this is a significant achievement. Antix make the point that the many different devices that exist today all have different execution formats - AGP levels the playing field so that developers can create a single digital binary to address them all. Consequently the AGP gives game developers exactly what they want - maximum distribution across different devices with minimum development work with all the benefits of native code whilst simultaneously creating new user models. The AGP brings value for developers because they can write for multiple targets the home and mobile with a single SKU.
Antix Labs I
magine a native gaming environment that enables consumers to play the same game on any kind of device as well as copy and
share those games both over the internet and peer-to-peer via wi-fi, bluetooth or sd card in a manner that protects the rights and the revenues of the game developers and publishers. Sounds like a utopian world for gamers, publishers and developers, doesn’t it? Apparently, that’s exactly what Antix Labs is creating.
Francis Charig is a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer and the Chief Executive and founder of Antix. Prior to forming Antix, Francis was the co-founder, Chairman and Chief Executive of Tao Group, the pioneer of binary portable, high performance multimedia software. Francis set up Antix in 2007 with former employees of the Tao Group, whose high performance media solutions had been deployed in tens of millions of phones, TVs, cameras and other products from manufacturers including Sony, Panasonic NEC and HTC. This team is currently designing and developing the Antix Game Player (AGP), which has tremendous value for both developers and consumers. A series of blue chip companies presented AGP in September at both IFA in Berlin and IBC in Amsterdam.
On the consumer end, gamers will be able to download, install, play, copy and share C and C++ based games through AGP. The service is similar to MP3 sharing, but goes further in that consumers can send multiplayer games to a friend, who might have an entirely different console or device; they will share these games over a network such as the internet, or via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. The Antix Game Player has already been ported to various connected TVs, mobile phones, tablets, PCs and various browsers. We saw the first big brand in the stores, Samsung launched AGP on select TV models a few months ago and there are reputed to now be around 20 million sets worldwide that are potentially accessible to AGP.
Antix is already being distributed on devices with preloaded games from publishers like Polarbit and a number of smaller publishers. Major branded titles will be announced during this year.
Preloaded games are typically locked versions so that consumers can try the game but easily download keys when playing in order to progress further. In mobile, gamers can expect the first major operator to announce later this year their requirement for the Antix Game Player.
“Antix Labs’ tool chain is straightforward and familiar: it offers plug-ins for both Eclipse and Visual Studio; compilers are GCC; and it’s easy to integrate various game engines. Best of all, it’s free for qualifying developers.”
Necessarily platform agnostic; it can demonstrate games running on a TV when the developer had no idea during development that it would run on the TV nor was he targeting the TV specifically the results are impressive.
The Antix Game Player (AGP) consists of a number of components: a data format, a piece of client software, a set of tools, a digital rights service, a warehouse service, and in selected cases may include an optional Antix store - this collection fills in the gaps that aren’t provided by the operators, manufacturers or game developers and ultimately delivers the key components necessary for providers to offer a comprehensive end-to-end service.
Antix Labs’ tool chain is straightforward and familiar: it offers plug-ins for both Eclipse and Visual Studio; compilers are GCC; and it’s easy to integrate various game engines. Best of all, it’s free for qualifying developers.
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