Double Fusion Launches Fusion.runtime™ Advertising Technology with Leading Industry Partners

Business Wire, Sept 4, 2007

Technology Breaks Through Code Integration Barrier Enabling New Ad-Supported Business Models and Revenue Streams for Back Catalog and Casual Games Titles, and Just-In-Time Advertising for Games and Virtual Worlds

SAN FRANCISCO -- Please note revised fifth graph of release.

The corrected release reads:

DOUBLE FUSION LAUNCHES FUSION.RUNTIME[TM] ADVERTISING TECHNOLOGY WITH LEADING INDUSTRY PARTNERS

Technology Breaks Through Code Integration Barrier Enabling New Ad-Supported Business Models and Revenue Streams for Back Catalog and Casual Games Titles, and Just-In-Time Advertising for Games and Virtual Worlds

Leading independent game advertising provider Double Fusion has made its fusion.runtime[TM] technology commercially available to publishers and developers for the first time, allowing them to add advertising support to their titles after code development has been completed. The technology makes ad placements possible where previously they could not be feasibly implemented, including in back catalog titles and titles late in the development process. Fusion.runtime also represents a compelling advertising solution for the casual games industry, where the large volume of titles launched each year requires an easy-to-implement solution to reach the market's full potential.

Fusion.runtime also allows publishers and developers to incorporate new ad placements into their titles, whether first-run or back catalog, after the release of the game, creating additional revenue potential through the development of specialized programs, a capability Double Fusion refers to as "just-in-time advertising." For example, if an advertiser wanted to put a branded 3D blimp in the sky across multiple titles for a Fourth of July promotion, and there were no pre-existing blimp placements, publishers using the fusion.runtime technology that wanted access to those advertising revenues would be able to easily place the blimps in their games, and have them disappear after the ad campaign was completed. With code-based solutions, the ad placements are locked once the game has shipped; fusion.runtime opens the door to a much broader, real-time development of custom, dynamically-served game advertising programs.

Fusion.runtime brings game publishers and developers a second technology solution to select from, joining Double Fusion's existing fusion.sdk code-based technology suite.

"By offering publishers and developers two technology solutions to choose from, we're able to support a much wider range of titles and circumstances than any other company in the business," notes Hillel Rom, PhD, chief technology officer and co-founder of Double Fusion. "Game makers that want deep interactivity in their ads, or want pinpoint control over system resources, will benefit from our fusion.sdk solution. For those game makers that don't have time in their development process to incorporate an SDK, or want to add advertising to back catalog titles, or perhaps want to avoid bothering the original developer in the case of games licensed from other regions, fusion.runtime opens up the revenue possibilities by delivering great advertising experiences."

Fusion.runtime has been met with significant interest by the games and virtual world publishing communities based on the significant advantages it offers over other approaches. Major leading MMO publisher NCSoft will be using both the fusion.runtime and fusion.sdk solutions, across some of their newest massively multiplayer titles. Leading casual games publisher and solutions provider Oberon will be deploying fusion.runtime as a key solution to drive advertising into their casual games portfolio.

Double Fusion's fusion.runtime technology uses the same back-end systems and sales force as the fusion.sdk solution. Publishers deploy the fusion.runtime engine into games through a simple patch of the game executable. Ad placements are then determined at the publisher's leisure, using a set of creative tools built by Double Fusion, and ad definitions and related ad policies are served into the game at the time the title is run.

"Fusion.runtime is proof positive that technology does matter in the game advertising market, and demonstrates how Double Fusion responds to the desires of the publisher, developer, gamer and advertising communities," said Jonathan Epstein, CEO of Double Fusion. "For publishers, this technology opens up new revenue streams by making advertising support possible - or in some cases feasible - across a broader variety of games. For developers, we are countering what has been one of the biggest challenges until now: incorporating the ad integration process into what is already an amazingly complex development project. For gamers, the technology opens the door to new, free ad-supported high-quality games. And, for advertisers, the technology creates new types of ad possibilities across a broader selection of titles than ever before."

Fusion.runtime works with Double Fusion's existing ad server platform, and supports the same measurement standards for impressions that are used within the game advertising market today, whether the ads are in-game billboards, ads placed in the game interface, 3D product placements or video interstitials. In addition, fusion.runtime can also work with web ad servers, such as DART, for game portal operators that want to add in- and around-game ads to their advertising offering and want to manage combined web and game ad campaigns from a single entry screen.