GameRail operates a high speed network that directly connects online game players to servers hosting popular games. GameRail’s business model is to deliver superior performance to its subscribers by peering directly with ISPs, universities and game server providers (GSPs). Low latency (“lag”) is crucial in multiplayer first-person shooter games like CounterStrike, where a slow connection can leave a player at a competitive disadvantage.

“When 20 milliseconds is a matter of ‘life and death’ – winning and losing – for an online gamer, latency, packet loss and jitter can ruin the playing experience,” said Mark Senda, chief executive officer for GameRail. “Internap’s optimized network performance solutions allow us to provide localized ingress and egress connection speeds to three milliseconds, maximizing the flow of real-time Web traffic while optimizing game play.”

Peering with Major GSPs
GameRail has direct connect peering relationships with the leading game server providers with over 80 percent of First Person Shooter (FPS) and Real Time Strategy (RTS) gaming servers attached directly to the company’s private, nationwide network. Internap’s solutions ensure that residential broadband users of all carriers are able to enjoy the optimum gaming experience. Additionally, GameRail features private peering to route traffic away from the Internet and onto its private backbone.

“GameRail has a unique and superior online gaming solution and we are thrilled to work with the company to help them evolve,” said Tim Sullivan, chief technology officer for Internap. “As a Web-reliant enterprise, GameRail’s use of our innovative, proprietary technology is a significant proof point of the power of our resources for Internet-based business.”

Online multiplayer computer gaming is one of the fastest growing entertainment activities in the U.S., with more than 40 million people now playing regularly.

GameRail is operated by Progression LLC, a facilities-based network operator with interconnection facilities in eight major US markets including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Palo Alto, Seattle and St. Louis.

GameRail’s business model is to deliver superior performance to its subscribers by peering directly with ISPs, universities and game server providers (GSPs), reducing congestion that is often encountered on the public Interent (see diagram). Low latency (”lag”) is crucial in multiplayer first-person shooter games like CounterStrike, where a slow connection can muck up gameplay and/or leave a player at a competitive disadvantage.

“With the addition of The Planet to our network, our subscribers will see a substantial increase in the desired content titles and game play environments they prefer,“ said GameRail’s Vice President of Business Development John Alden. “The Planet’s powerful network performance and reliability provide optimum connections for serious online gamers.“

“The Planet has always been a destination for competitive online league gaming events,“ said The Planet’s Vice President of Technology Will Charnock. “With this peering connection, GameRail is able to extend the reach of our customers to additional cities with a hyper-competitive, low latency and smooth connection to the online gamer.“

GameRail is still in the testing phase but getting closer to “live status,” the company says. It now has network facilities in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Palo Alto, Seattle and St. Louis. GameRail made network equipment upgrades in April. “Because of the tremendous response from both access peering and game server partners, we quickly outgrew our phase 1 network equipment even before our formal launch to end users,” the company said in a May 3 announcement. “We just completed an upgrade to Foundry Network XMR core routers in each city. These routers are carrier-class and allow GameRail to peer with a huge number of companies.”

To make it easier for its end-users to locate servers, GameRail recently worked with Game Monitor to create a web interface that identifies more than 4,000 game servers hooked up to its network.

Online multiplayer computer gaming is one of the fastest growing entertainment activities in the U.S., with more than 40 million people now playing regularly. GameRail introduced its “bypass network” in January to delivers a direct connection from the game player to the game host.

GameRail is operated by Progression LLC, a facilities-based network operator with interconnection facilities in eight major US markets including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Palo Alto, Seattle and St. Louis. The company’s lead investor is River City Internet Group (RCIG), a St. Louis area technology company. Robert Guller, President of The Broadband Exchange Building in St. Louis, is also a significant investor. 

Online gamers with broadband Internet service from Charter now have the shortest and fastest path to performance game servers offering popular titles like America’s Army:Special Forces, Battlefield 2 Ranked and Unranked, Call of Duty, Counter Strike Source, Enemy Territory Fortress, Half Life: Condition Zero, Half Life/ Counter-Strike, Halo: Combat Evolved, Quake 4, Teamfortress Classic, Tribes Vengeance, Unreal Tournament 2004, Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, as well as dedicated servers and TeamSpeak slot rental.
GameRail’s bypass network delivers a “direct-connect” from the game player to the game host and avoids the congestion and inefficient routing paths of the regular Internet. Once GameRail and the subscriber’s provider of Internet access are interconnected, the subscriber’s game play packets bypass the multi-hop, high latency Internet and hot route on a dedicated, national broadband network connected to the game host.

“Because of the Peering opportunities with the Bandwidth Exchange Buildings’ existing clients, we are able to fast start our network and also provide superior performance for our peer’s online gaming subscribers,” said GameRail’s CEO Blake Ashby. “Turning up in a carrier hotel like the Bandwidth Exchange Buildings also give us rapid access to leading carriers to build a national network.”

GameRail describes itself as “is an evolution in the network model specifically designed to minimize latency and improve a computer gamer’s online experience.” GameRail allows gaming traffic to get on the private network in the gamer’s home city and then transit over the private network all the way to the site of the game server. GameRail can reduces network hops (and thus latency).

If you’re interested in learning more about the game hosting/GSP market, check out the Game Hosting Guide for a directory of providers and resources.