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Increased broadband penetration is
giving Infinium Labs the opportunity to reach and rapidly deliver to video gamers’
living rooms an affordable 24-hour online service offering a wide breadth of game content
Entertainment
Video Games
(IFLB – OTC: BB)
Infinium Labs, Inc.
2033 Main Street
Suite 309
Sarasota, FL 34237
941-556-8000
www.phanton.net
www.infiniumlabs.com
investors@phantom.net
Tim Roberts
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
and Founder
Interview conducted by:
Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor
CEOCFOinterviews.com
December 30, 2004
BIO:
Timothy M. Roberts, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Tim is responsible for launching a variety of successful high technology companies as
founder or seed investor. Two of his most successful startups as a founder are broadband
services provider Savvis Communications (NASDAQ: SVVS) and netsourcing service provider
Intira Corporation, which successfully raised more than $250 million in equity capital
before its sale to Divine Interventures (NASDAQ: DVIN). As a seed investor, Tim helped
launch Phoenix Networks, a nationwide DSL provider that was sold to MegaPath Networks. The
Phantom Game Service™ is an extension of Savvis and Intira, both companies managing
and delivering large data resources.
Company Profile:
Infinium Labs, Inc. (OTC: BB - IFLB), based in Sarasota, Florida, is launching its
innovative Phantom Game Service™ to revolutionize the video game industry. This new
service enables subscribers to access hundreds of PC games from the convenience of their
homes without having to go to a retail store to purchase or rent game software. The
Phantom Game Service is the first end-to-end, game-on-demand service designed for the
whole family, from the avid gamer to the casual player. The service offers subscribers
access to a library of titles, from the top new games to old standards people want to play
again. It is easy to use, convenient and personalized to individual game players. The
Phantom Game Service includes a receiver that connects to your TV and any broadband
internet connection. It is built for performance with HDTV compatibility; offering Dolby
Digital surround sound and secure content delivery.
In mid-2005, Infinium Labs, Inc. will launch its seminal broadband Phantom Game Service™,
which will enable subscribers to seamlessly access, demo, purchase and play hundreds of PC
games any time of day from the convenience of their living room. Infinium Labs is led by a
management team comprised of former Xbox, Sega, Eidos, Yahoo, HP and Sony Pictures
executives who have extensive experience in the growing $20.7 billion video game market.
Nominated this year for an E3 Game Critics Award in the “Best Hardware/Peripheral”
category, the Phantom Game Service is the first end-to-end, games-on-demand service
designed for the entire family, from avid to casual players. The service offers
subscribers convenient 24/7 access to a vast library of titles, from the top new games to
old standards people want to play again. It is easy to use and each family member can
create their own user profile.
Game publishers and retailers that partner with Infinium Labs will benefit from
significantly higher sales and margins. The Phantom Game Service offers publishers a
new distribution channel for old game titles, the ability to eliminate production and
packaging costs, and protection against piracy. Retailers that distribute Infinium
Labs’ service share recurring subscription revenues and game sales and can
significantly reduce costly shelf space and merchandising costs.
To date, over 20 game publishers and developers, representing one-third of the PC games
market, have signed content supply agreements with Infinium Labs. They include 4 of
the top 10 publishers.
With respect to retail partners, the Company is negotiating with several national
retailers. Under an introductory “limited time” offer, The Phantom Game Service
hardware will be free to consumers who sign a two-year contract for a basic subscription
service fee of $29.95 per month.
The Phantom Game Service includes a secure receiver that connects to your TV and any
broadband Internet connection. Although it has a small footprint, the receiver offers
high- performance features like near instantaneous game downloads, HDTV compatibility,
Dolby Digital surround sound and secure content delivery. Other service features
include seamless upgrades and patch management. In addition to the receiver, game hardware
includes Infinium Labs’ gamepad and patented “lean back” lapboard, which
allow users to comfortably play games from a sofa or easy chair.”
CEOCFOinterviews: Mr. Roberts, you seem to have a very
ambitious plan, could you tell us about it?
Mr. Roberts: “I’ve been in the broadband network
services and information technology industries for about ten years now and have always
wanted to develop a video game subscription service. Given the large number of households
today that now have broadband Internet access, I realized that the timing was right to
deliver an affordable online video game service that offers a wide breath of games and
will allow consumers to purchase virtually any game, anytime, from the convenience of
their living room.”
CEOCFOinterviews: Why hasn’t it been done up till now?
Mr. Roberts: “It comes back to some fundamental reasons.
Number one is broadband penetration has finally reached levels in the past twelve to
twenty-four months that you can actually build an, ‘on demand’ service and have
a large enough base of broadband subscribers to earn profits. Secondly, technology has
come to a point where processing speeds are fast enough to support intensive applications
like video games. The processing technology is affordable today for consumers and offers a
3- to 5-year shelf life. Another reason for our success is our talented management team,
which consists of experienced executives who are among the very best in the video game
industry.”
CEOCFOinterviews: Quite a number of video game
publishers that have signed on; what is the revenue model?
Mr. Roberts: “If you look at it as a pie, about 20 to
25% of the net profit goes to the publisher, the same goes for retail partners and the
rest goes to our company. Game publishers will earn far more through us than they
currently earn using traditional distribution channels. Partnering with Infinium,
retailers will be able to eliminate most shelving and merchandising costs.”
CEOCFOinterviews: Could you explain the role of your retail
partners?
Mr. Roberts: “Our marketing studies found consumers want
to be able to walk into a store, make their purchase and and walk out with a TiVo- or
Direct TV and be able to take it home and install it. If they have any problems they want
someone local that they can go and talk to. We’ve been talking with several retailers
and soon will be announcing our retail partners, and on a nationwide basis you’ll be
able to walk into your local store and buy our service. The advantage to going retail,
number one is that the consumer knows where to go to with a problem and number two it
allows us a physical point of contact that Internet can not provide.
CEOCFOinterviews: How will you get it in the mainstream and
get people to start buying it?
Mr. Roberts: “Initially, we expect hardcore gamers to be
at the forefront of consumer demand for our service. We are appealing to the hardcore
gaming market because of the convenience and the robust features that we have built into
our service. We expect to penetrate a new market that we call the ‘lapsed gamer’.
That is someone who probably had an appetite for gaming and owned an Atari when they were
young, but is now the head of a household and doesn’t have the time to shop for
games. We expect the Phantom Game Service will appeal to men and women who are interested
in purchasing a system that can be used by everyone in the household as a family
entertainment system. We also are really focused on providing children’s educational
content that is hard to get through retail channels because of limited distribution by
retailers. Right now, retail is the box office movie theater for video games. There are
300 shelf spaces and 70 thousand game companies that are fighting to get those shelf
spaces; you have to spend $5 to $20 million to produce a game and you have to make all of
your money back, plus the profits in as little as 90 days. The maximum shelf life with a
retailer is 12 months, so it’s a challenge for the game developers and publishers,
but we’ve solved that problem for them, because if they aren’t successful with
traditional retail channels, now we can help them with their distribution.”
CEOCFOinterviews: Please tell us about your marketing.
Mr. Roberts: “We are launching a marketing campaign with
our retail partners; we are going to have co-branding with other companies. Our SVP of
Marketing, Andrew Schneider, has built a marketing campaign that we are getting ready to
launch. The hardcore gaming audience has such a large online base, it gives us the
opportunity to do low-cost marketing campaigns.”
CEOCFOinterviews: I know that you’ve had some new and
exciting news, could you tell us about it and can you quantify your recent content
announcement?
Mr. Roberts: “To date, over 20 game publishers and
developers, representing one-third of the PC games market, have signed licensing
agreements with Infinium Labs. They include 4 of the top 10 PC game publishers”
CEOCFOinterviews: Tell us about the funding for the company.
Mr. Roberts: “The company to date has raised more than
12 million dollars in equity and debt financing. We are current raising up to 50 million
dollars in private equity investments from institutional funds and qualified investors to
fully fund our operating plan.”
CEOCFOinterviews: Can you touch on the range of service?
Mr. Roberts: “Under an introductory “limited time”
offer, The Phantom Game Service hardware will be free to consumers who sign a two-year
contract for a basic subscription service fee of $29.95 per month.
The Phantom Game Service includes a secure receiver that connects to your TV and any
broadband Internet connection. Although it has a small footprint, the receiver offers
high- performance features like near instantaneous game downloads, HDTV compatibility,
Dolby Digital surround sound and secure content delivery. Other service features
include seamless upgrades and patch management. In addition to the receiver, game hardware
includes Infinium Labs’ gamepad and patented “lean back” lapboard, which
allow users to comfortably play games from a sofa or easy chair.
To date, over 20 game publishers and developers, representing one-third of the PC games
market, have signed content supply agreements with Infinium Labs. They include 4 of the
top 10 publishers.”
CEOCFOinterviews: In closing, why should potential investors
be interested?
Mr. Roberts: “Tremendous opportunities are evident in
the gaming industry, which has enjoyed continued steady growth. Infinium Labs’ entry
into this market is highlighted by the Company’s ability to obtain distribution
rights to deliver outstanding content and continue to accelerate our business strategy
going forward. I believe Infinium and its shareholders are in the right place at exactly
the right time. We have addressed the piracy issues that have plagued the music and video
industries, while concurrently developing a service that is not locked into legacy
technology, like the console game makers. By overcoming these fundamental flaws, we are
now positioned to deliver a wide variety of content, starting with games, to a $20 billion
market. Infinium’s Phantom Game Service is the first end-to-end, on-demand game
distribution service.”
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