One time, 999 players, in browser carnage!
MuchDifferent just received the official statement from the Guinness World Records:
“The most players taking part in a single online battle in a first-person shooter is 999, achieved by Man vs. Machine (MuchDifferent, 2012) on 29 January 2012.”
January 30th 2012, Uppsala, Sweden. MuchDifferent, the Swedish non-profit organization that one week back proposed an attempt at breaking the FPS world record, is proud to announced that they did it! Yesterday, a new world record was established as 999 player battled in the biggest first person shooter ever made.
Man vs. Machine was developed in Unity, and was an in-browser battle between two teams. Men were the strongest and had the upper hand for most of the game, and it was not until the very end that Machines were able to fight back and finally took complete control over the battlefield.
MuchDifferent, who provided both the game and the new server technology, was at first overwhelmed by the huge number of people trying to join this one-time event. CEO, Christian Lönnholm explains: “It was amazing. We did not imagine the amount of interest that this game would generate, so the system went down shortly after we had reached the peak of 999 players. Within minutes we were able to adjust it, and the battle continued for about two hours more. Almost until the end we were averaging around 980 players at any given moment. It was a blast!”
Derek Wise, entrusted with being the external expert observer for the event, wrote earlier today in his report to the Guinness World Records, Gamers Edition: “…this test met the requirements for being a first person online shooter, it exceeds the requirements and is a good example of the spirit of the world record and the competition that should generate in the industry and technology.”
Confirmation from the Guinness World Records will take a few more days, but MuchDifferent is extremely confident that their world record will be included in the next edition. “Obviously, this would not have been possible without the players, so I’d like to send a special warm and loving “thank you” to them! Thank you for bringing such creativity to both the battlefield and to the chat. You had me laughing, giggling and spilling coffee throughout the event!” (Christian Lönnholm, MuchDifferent CEO)
Apart from the fun and excitement of it all, the event proved that PikkoServer, the server and network technology used to make all of this possible, can take the strain and deliver an entirely new multiplayer experience. “We believe this technology can be applied to just about any game engine used today. So, our goal now is to make this technology available to developers worldwide. Stay tuned!” (Christian Lönnholm, MuchDifferent CEO)
More information about Pikkotekk and MuchDifferent can be found at muchdifferent.com