Kuma Selects IBM's BladeCenter

IBM has announced that Kuma Games, publisher and developer of episodic game content such as Kuma\War, has chosen IBM's BladeCenter to support its rapid business growth, using its open architecture to scale their product for a broadening audience. Blade computers integrate servers, storage, networking and applications into one system with the aim of reducing or eliminating server "farms" and the large IT staffs needed to manage them. Anticipating their growth to continue at an accelerated rate, Kuma chose IBM BladeCenter quad core HS21 servers to accommodate a higher volume of players. The company also says the choice helps Kuma manage energy costs. Privately-held Kuma says it's expanding its portfolio free ad-supported downloadable video game titles, which currently includes The DinoHunters, Kuma\War, The History Channel's Dogfights and ShootOut, along with Spike TV's The Kill Point. Each game episode is based on a TV program, allowing viewers to participate in each week's episode online. "The idea is catching on quickly," Halper says, "and as our audience grows and our business expands, the easy-to-use design and open architecture of IBM BladeCenter lets us rapidly scale the Kuma experience so no player is left behind."