AT&T To Provide Managed Hosting Services To Microsoft Game Studios

November 1, 2005; 08:08 AM

November 1, 2005 - Redmond, Wash. – AT&T today announced it has won a $9.5 million, three-year managed hosting contract from Microsoft Game Studios (MGS) to support various online experiences and the infrastructure for massively multiplayer online role-playing games. The online games include the latest for both Windows and the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.

Multiplayer online games, where tens of thousands of users play simultaneously from points around the globe, have emerged as one of the most sophisticated, bandwidth-intensive applications on the Internet. Multiplayer games have stringent requirements for real-time communication, dynamic applications and near-100 percent availability and reliability.

“We chose AT&T because of its extensive experience in supporting online gaming companies and their ability to deliver our games globally,” said Rick Gauthier, Microsoft Game Studios’ Group Operations Manager.  “AT&T’s offer and design flexibility, ‘game specific’ customer service, and the performance and reliability of its IP backbone ensure that our customers will have the best online gaming experience possible on Xbox Live or over the Internet.  With AT&T managing the system infrastructure, it will allow us to focus our energies on managing our applications and looking at new technologies.”

The innovative “Gotham TV” feature of Xbox 360’s highly anticipated title Project Gotham Racing 3, and the highly anticipated Games for Windows title Vanguard are two of the MGS online gaming applications that will be hosted at an AT&T Internet Data Center (IDC).  AT&T operates 26 IDCs worldwide, and has announced plans to expand to 28 by the end of the year.

Microsoft Corp., the parent company of MGS, is a long-standing AT&T customer for a broad range of voice, data, Internet and managed network services. In June, the two companies announced a strategic alliance to develop, deploy and deliver next-generation IP-based communications services.

About AT&T
For more than 125 years, AT&T (NYSE "T") has been known for unparalleled quality and reliability in communications.  Backed by the research and development capabilities of AT&T Labs, the company is a global leader in local, long distance, Internet and transaction-based voice and data services.