Case Studies - Adscape Media

"They dealt with the uncertainty of bleeding edge technology, helped finalize the design, defined the project plan, then delivered a high quality product to schedule. We could not have achieved that with other consultants or outsourcers who typically require detailed specifications and project plans and close management oversight."

– Dan Willis,
Co-founder and CTO, Adscape Media

The Client

Adscape Media is the developer of the world’s first dynamic in-game advertising technology. Adscape Media’s patented technology, AdverPlay™, allows advertisers and publishers measurable in-game advertising opportunities. AdverPlay uses Real World/Virtual World Gateway™ Technology (RVG™) to provide a two-way connection between in-game ads and the real world. RVG technology controls the delivery of ads and many other transactions based on game genre, gamer demographics, time of day, and geographic location.

Accelerating Production of Breakthrough Game Technology to Hit a Critical Launch Window

Project Description:

In late 2004, Adscape needed to accelerate the delivery of the first production release of AdverPlay. As a start-up company, they needed to engage publishers and studios to incorporate AdverPlay into their next generation games. To support that effort, they also needed to obtain the commitment of advertisers to prime the advertising network. These business imperatives required a robust, demonstrable ad delivery platform.

“GDC and E3 are the key events in the games industry for engaging publishers and studios,” states Dan Willis, Adscape Media co-founder and CTO. “They were being held in early 2005 and we needed to publicly demonstrate a commercial product at those conferences. If we missed that window, it would be a full year before we had another opportunity. We had the in-house skills to finish production but at that time we simply didn’t have the capacity or established development process to get it done with the level of quality we needed within that tight timeframe.”

The bitHeads Solution:

To accelerate the delivery of AdverPlay, Adscape engaged HeadGames, the game technology division of bitHeads. “I needed a partner that could ramp-up quickly and provide the project leadership needed to get the job done right,” adds Willis. “I knew of the track record of bitHeads and was confident they could deliver.”

A HeadGames team was immediately deployed to work along side Adscape Media staff to productize the architecture and take more responsibility for project management, software development, and unit and integration testing of the AdverPlay release.

Results:

“HeadGames worked truly hand-in-hand with our in-house team,” states Willis. “They dealt with the uncertainty of bleeding edge technology, helped finalize the design, defined the project plan, then delivered a high quality product to schedule. We could not have achieved that with other consultants or outsourcers who typically require detailed specifications and project plans and close management oversight.”

With the timely delivery of the first production version of AdverPlay, Adscape Media was able to conduct a critical public demonstration at E3 in early 2005. That led to successful engagements with initial publishers, studios and investors.

“Also, by having HeadGames take responsibility for the final production of the first release, our in-house team was free to focus on the research to advance our core intellectual property within the AdverPlay engine,” concludes Willis. “By hitting that first launch window with HeadGames help, we were able to focus on core IP for the entire following year. That IP is our main differentiator in the market today and the driver of our shareholder value.”