Facepunch Studios is an independent game developer based in Birmingham, UK. It initially rose to fame with the release of Garry’s Mod in 2006, followed by the Rust and Chippy games, all of which regularly feature in the top 10 most popular Steam games, and are amongst the best-selling Steam games of all time. To date, the studio has sold 38.6 million games and currently employs 50 people worldwide.
When Facepunch moved its offices to new premises in Birmingham’s prestigious Colmore Row area, the company wanted to be able to facilitate BYOD conferencing collaboration, with easy and reliable wireless presentation capabilities, across all office spaces.
The company had a clear vision for the AV equipment and capabilities it wanted throughout the new offices, specifying a fully automated boardroom with wireless presentation and multi-platform VC (Video Conferencing), interactive displays, zoned audio, and high-end executive offices with BYOD conferencing capabilities. A key target was to minimize hardwiring, so an IP-based solution was preferred.
Kramer AV equipment was chosen by Vision On AV Systems, the project’s system integrator. The IP-based solution required a new, segregated, and highly stable AV network. Ubiquiti Enterprise Layer 3 switches were used, and the AV network was carefully planned to ensure minimum disruption to service and expedient commissioning.
The central communications room serves as the hub of the AV solution. It comprises the KC-BRAINware-5 for overall control, encoders, audio-video sources, and multi-zone audio amplifiers/mixers, with all devices connected via Ubiquiti Enterprise network switches with fiber links. Individual rooms have VIA wireless collaboration and conferencing platforms, interfaces, decoders, and local amplifiers. BYOD video conferencing was implemented in most rooms using the VIA Connect2 collaboration platform and VIA Versa virtual camera drivers, while the fully automated boardroom uses VIA Campus2, and a camera-speaker bar. Additional decoders were added to meeting rooms, the boardroom, game development area, bar, and interactive spaces.
One of the main challenges was readying the system for testing before the main network was fully operational. Using a simple router and a single SL-240C, Vision On AV Systems worked the floor space-by-space, before moving over to KC−BRAINware once the network was fully commissioned, with external access to the Kramer servers.
The new Kramer-based AV solution has been instrumental in improving collaboration across Facepunch Studios, facilitating the simple and seamless video conferencing that is essential for the success of an international team.
“It’s very easy to set up a room for a BYOD meeting, and easy to set up a fully hosted meeting in the boardroom,” says Leigh Holmes, Operations Manager at Facepunch Studios. And similarly, wireless presentations are simple and productive.
With full BYOD compatibility, conferencing is quicker, easier, and more fluid, helping employees engage around complex game design, even with colleagues overseas.
Alex Bird, Business Development Manager at Vision On AV Systems concludes: “Facepunch is delighted with the end result and benefits from seamless wireless presentation, flexible conferencing, and a reception area with a real wow factor.”
