Trion hunts online game

By Ben Fritz

Several videogame vets are hoping to give their business a TV twist.

Trion World Network, which launched earlier this year and will begin releasing products in 2007, is a broadband videogame publisher and developer that will distribute games in episodic format via the Internet.

That strategy will allow it to release only a portion of a game, then create additional updates, or episodes, as long as there is continuing interest.

"There's less risk because we can gauge interest with the videogame equivalent of a pilot," said CEO Lars Buttler, former VP of global online for Electronic Arts, who co - founded Trion with "Might and Magic" vidgame creator Jon Van Caneghem . "Every channel would be a game world that we can update with new events weekly or daily."

Though most videogames are still distributed on a physical disc, the industry has been moving increasingly online. All of the next - generation consoles have broadband connections for online play and downloadable content. Some publishers already have started using Microsoft's Xbox Live service to let gamers download additional levels or items for games they previously bought.

Some games already are being distributed entirely online. But just like a movie, videogames are created as one massive entity, usually requiring an investment of well over $10 million.

If successful, Trion's approach could introduce a fundamentally new business model to the videogame biz - - - one in which the initial investment and return are lower, but with significant opportunities to update content and make more money on a continuing basis.

Because games will be run primarily via Trion's servers, company hopes to make them accessible from multiple devices, including consoles, PCs and cell phones.

"The experience will be different," admitted Buttler, "but you should be able to interact with your games in some way, no matter how you get online."

Trion hasn't released any details on its content, which it will start distributing next year, but it is looking to develop a broad range of titles, including casual games, massive multiplayer games like "World of Warcraft" and sports games.

It likely will offer several different models to make money, including one - off sales, subscriptions and advertiser support.

Company, which has offices in Northern California and Austin, Texas, is in talks with numerous videogame and traditional media companies for content partnerships. It's supported by venture - capital funding.