Nintendo deploys The Switch for linear and streaming feed distribution at E3 2018

Crowds gather on Tuesday, June 12, 2018, at the Nintendo booth at the E3 video game conference in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision for Nintendo/AP Images)

At last month’s 2018 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, commonly referred to as E3, Nintendo relied on The Switch for exclusive distribution of Nintendo’s linear feed and streaming feeds across multiple, worldwide over-the-top platforms.

Utilising The Switch Access between outside venues and Nintendo’s Treehouse Live booth at the Los Angeles Convention Center, The Switch enabled Nintendo to produce and deliver the live content throughout the E3 event and beyond. The Switch also delivered the production to its Los Angeles NOC pool ports, where IGN, GameSpot and others were able to pull the content for additional onward distribution.  

To ensure the events were accessible for any streaming and OTT applications, The Switch provided transcoding and delivery using The Switch OTT through its new Los Angeles 1080p60 Master Control Room (MCR).  

According to Eric Salsman, VP of OTT and engineering at The Switch: “From the MCR, the feed was contributed via our AWS Direct Connect into AWS Media Live, bypassing the internet. Media Live allowed us to contribute to near limitless syndication partners at 1080p60.” This allowed cloud syndication of multiple feeds to YouTube, Twitch, Periscope, Facebook, NicoNico, G&L and others, another of The Switch’s value-add components embedded into The Switch OTT.

“This was a complex event utilising multiple service offerings and teams at The Switch,” said Keith Buckley, president and CEO, The Switch. “We are thrilled with the success of the event and believe it is a perfect testament to the capabilities of The Switch as a full-service supplier.”

E3 typically draws around 68,000 attendees, with tens of millions more streaming the event.  Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate reveal, which was held on June 12 at the Belasco Theater, was said to be one of the highlights of this year’s show. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is slated for release in December of this year.