EE/BT has announced an interesting campaign today. The new “Broadband Made for Gamers” bundle is now available nationwide, offering gamers lower latency, game server geofencing, and in-home network prioritisation. Of course, this bundle is only offered on their Openreach-based full fibre, with speeds up to 1.6GB.
The tech, behind the new package is from their EE Smart Hub Plus, featuring Game Mode and Smart WiFi Plus. Gamers will also enjoy 24 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (that’s not a bad deal at all) (although, what about the loyal “Play Station-ers”)
To mark the launch, EE united two of the UK’s fastest bedroom gamers to put the bundle to the ultimate test by smashing a series of speedrunning world records.
EE’s new bundle is part of their ambition to become the UK’s number one gaming destination. We can see the angle they’re taking, and with the marketing budget of a small country, I think it’s a smart move. They offer national coverage, utilising the Openreach network; if they’ve invested in the tech, it will be interesting to see this campaign roll out.
EE say “Over a third of British gamers feel restricted to gaming in just one area of the home due to slow broadband speeds, with half stating they’d like to game in more rooms. The Broadband Made for Gamers bundle aims to address these issues.”
EE also added that on their FTTP network, “Tests show a latency reduction of over a third compared to standard broadband. Download speeds of 1.6Gbps mean the average game update for a title like Call of Duty (20.9Gb) can be downloaded in under two minutes, compared to over an hour with other Full Fibre packages.” – not quite sure on that one. I can’t see how a 20GB file can be downloaded in two minutes (which we assume is on their 1.6GB package), but take over an hour on, lets say, the 160Mbps package.
The Smart Hub Plus router, featuring Game Mode, allows users to prioritise their online gaming traffic for an optimal experience. Game Mode also includes Geo Filter, which selects the highest quality servers and blocks those with increased lag, and Ping Optimiser, reducing server ping by up to 24%. Like that.
Sam Kemp, Director of Gaming at EE, commented: “By introducing Broadband Made for Gamers, we believe we’re making a huge step in our ambition to become the number one destination for gaming in the UK. This broadband package is truly tailored for gamers, enhancing their in-game experiences with features like Game Mode and 1.6Gbps Full Fibre, giving gamers the extra edge when playing.”
To showcase the bundle’s prowess, EE assembled two of the UK’s fastest bedroom gamers, Dan Riley from Devon and Josh Edwards from Bournemouth. They used the new Broadband Made for Gamers bundle to set four new speedrun.com records for GRID™ Legends’s Brands Hatch tracks, highlighting the game-changing capabilities of EE’s bespoke broadband package for gamers.
We’ll be watching a close eye on this campaign and hopefully will hear some feedback from some gamers soon.
