Lag during gaming sucks! i3D.net founder Stijn Koster already knew that back in 2002. At 18 and still just a student, Stijn set out to improve the gaming experiences of his friends by renting out consumer game servers. By 2004, i3D.net was a fully-fledged start-up in the center of Rotterdam, aiming to reach as many gamers as possible.
i3D.net’s rapid growth into the biggest game server provider in the Benelux caught the attention of game publishing giant EA. In addition to EA, we were hosting titles for entities like Activision, Splash Damage and THQ. Our network evolved from serving individual gamers to hosting actual game titles! Now i3D.net was improving the gaming experiences of thousands of people around the globe. And our technology had to keep up.
Online multi-player titles and ever-growing game sizes demanded low-latency, high performance and fast delivery times.
By 2009, it was time to put down our roots. Our hardware, specializing in high performance, needed an environment that was under our full control.
Together with data center expert Richard Boogaard, i3D.net built a data center in the Van Nelle Factory in Rotterdam. Today, it is one of the largest in the region, connecting with multiple Tier-1 in-house carriers and major IXPs.
After 10 years of hosting games, we learned a thing or two. Like Formula 1 racing pushes brands to design the fastest cars to win, the demands of the game industry had pushed the development of our hosting technology.
With the rise of infrastructure-as-a-service, we noted how our high-end products could also benefit other industries. From 2013 we opened our doors to non-gaming customers. Now many industries like logistics, healthcare, and WebRTC-based services can use our premium infrastructure originally built for gaming.
After all, if you want a superior road car, buy one designed to win.
Over the last few years, i3D.net has had the chance to explore a whole new arena: the cloud.
However, this has not come without its challenges. While cloud hosting can be a flexible and cheap option for many, it is not always the case. We’ve had to tackle many tough questions during our development process.
In 2019 we teamed-up with Ubisoft, a leading creator, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and services. Ubisoft has a rich portfolio of world-renowned brands, and leading-edge online experiences that engage players over many years.
We’re thrilled to collaborate on expanding the i3D.net network and infrastructure, bringing Ubisoft even closer to their users. Through this partnership, we can enrich the experiences of millions more gamers worldwide, whilst remaining an autonomous entity and continuing to serve our customers.
We’re always trying to reach the next level. Whether that’s as a business, or in a video game.
And we encourage our team to do the same.
Our company culture fosters an atmosphere of independent thought and self-reliance, based on mutual trust.
One of the fastest growing companies in the Deloitte 500.
Winner of the FD-Gazellen Award for fastest Growing Dutch Companies 2012, and 7-time nominee.
Listed in Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Companies in 2018.
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