Double Fusion's Runtime working on console games

Double Fusion has told GamesIndustry.biz that Runtime — the technology that allows adverts to be placed in completed games — is working on home consoles.

The solution allows online-enabled content to feature new advertising after the developers have finished work on the game, doing away with the need for an integrated software development kit.

"It's absolutely possible. It's something that we're working on and it's something that may happen in the future," confirmed David Miller, director of business development and marketing.

"Certainly with more and more consoles becoming connected and also users becoming more used to downloading content for consoles it becomes more interesting. One of the key points of Runtime is that it can be used once a game has already been released or once a developer has already been moved on.

"Console games tend to have an even shorter shelf life than PC games. It absolutely does work on consoles but it's a slightly different animal, so right now it's not the focus," he added.

Runtime is proving popular for those that didn't want the added headache of incorporating more code into a game during the development phase, when dev teams are focused on the core game.

"Developers typically come under a lot of pressure to get games finished within a certain time frame, and anything that's going to get in the way, and not be part of the core of the main game experience is going to be an issue.

"Anything that's taking away added time and content pressures is going to be welcomed by developers," added Miller.

The benefit for publishers, he argues, is that they can create a further revenue stream from old games, rather than just see titles repackaged and sold off at increasingly lower prices.

"The other point is making additional revenue from old IP that is otherwise lying dormant. Any content can now be monetised in a way that it wasn't before.

"There's always been a moan from publishers that we don't get the opportunitites to exploit our IP in the same way that the movie business does. We have a shorter shelf life whereas movies have a theatrical release followed by rental and retail and TV then download.

"Genuinely, this will mark another cycle for publishers to exploit IP to generate additional revenue, and Runtime is at the heart of this," he said.