Massive Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) are growing exponentially due to advances in the generation of engaging immersive content and the availability of high speed and capacity networks. One of the main characteristics of the MMOGs is that they enable users to become members of active communities with common interests, shared adventures and common objectives. Enabling thousands of users to communicate with each other in a 3D online world creates large network demands, in terms of required bandwidth and low latency for the users to have a rewarding experience. The communication between the users of a MMOG game can include many types of media content such as 3D objects, graphics and video and is described by the term user generated content (UGC).

CNG intends to enhance collaborative activities between online gamers by developing new tools for the generation, distribution and insertion of UGC into existing MMOGs. CNG will research and develop in-game community activities using in-game graphical insertion technology (IGIT) and a Combined CDN (Content Delivery Network)-P2P (peer-to-peer) architecture for the distribution of UGC. Current MMOG architecture typically relies on each object within a game being stored on central servers. These servers therefore host millions of items and share them to users upon request. The key innovation within the CNG proposal is the development of an architecture developed in parallel with the current MMOG client-server architecture that will share a high volume of user generated content between multiple users of an MMOG game via P2P. This UGC P2P content delivery will occur without interrupting the MMOG data flow and the need to upload the user generated data to a MMOG server. Since UGC can be resource heavy multimedia content, the network indirectly benefits from the increased locality of communication, since MMOG server is exempted from the UGC delivery. This UCG streaming from one client to others represents a real challenge to the network already occupied by the MMOG client server data.

The project intends to research and develop new sophisticated techniques for P2P 3D/Video streaming that are “friendly” to the MMOG client server traffic. Additionally, the Community Network Game project will support and enhance community activities between gamers via P2P to overcome a limitation of many current MMOGs, which are required to redevelop their game code to provide any new or innovative community services. For this purpose, the InGame Graphics Insertion Technology (IGIT) can be used to change existing game objects and to insert additional objects on demand (for example, a player’s face can be customized, billboards can be added, an area on the screen can be assigned to display user information, and any type of window (browser, chat, etc) can be inserted floating on or out of the game area). CNG, with the use of IGIT will allow the addition of new engaging community services without a need to change the game code, and without adding new processing or network loads to the MMOGs’ central servers.

The CNG project is funded under the ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) priority of the European Union’s FP7 (Seventh Framework Programme). The project is a STREP for 30 months.