Memfault Case Studies Panic's Successful Launch of Handheld Video Game System with Memfault

	Panic's Successful Launch of Handheld Video Game System with Memfault Memfault

Panic's Successful Launch of Handheld Video Game System with Memfault

Memfault

Technology Category	Networks & Connectivity - Bluetooth Networks & Connectivity - WiFi
Applicable Industries	Electronics Equipment & Machinery
Use Cases	Behavior & Emotion Tracking Leakage & Flood Monitoring
Services	Hardware Design & Engineering Services System Integration
Challenge	Panic, a Portland-based corporation known for its Mac apps and video games, was venturing into a new territory with the development of their own handheld video game system, Playdate. The company was aware that releasing a gaming device would present new challenges compared to their previous software-based products. They were determined not to compromise on product quality. To ensure a continuously improved product experience for their customers, Panic needed a way to deliver firmware updates post the shipping of the devices. Additionally, they realized early on that obtaining useful crash reports from users would be a challenge. They needed an efficient system to monitor device metrics to catch and resolve issues before they escalated. Read More
About Customer	Panic is a corporation based in Portland, Oregon, known for its dedication to creating products that bring everyday joy. Initially a Mac app developer, Panic has expanded its portfolio to become a focused video game publisher. Some of their notable releases include Firewatch, Untitled Goose Game, and the upcoming interactive food game, Nour: Play With Your Food. In line with their mission of creating joyful products, Panic has developed their own handheld video game system, Playdate. The company operates in the video games industry and is located in San Francisco, CA. Their gaming device uses an STM32, ESP32 chipset and operates on FreeRTOS. The device offers WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. Read More
Customer Name	Panic Read More
Solution	Panic understood that they lacked the resources and time to build these solutions in-house. They turned to Memfault, an all-in-one solution for debugging, Over-The-Air (OTA) updates, and device monitoring. Memfault's understanding and passion for the embedded space made them the ideal partner to help make Panic's first handheld gaming system a success. Memfault’s direct support for devices utilizing ARM Cortex-M Microcontrollers (MCUs) and FreeRTOS made the decision even more straightforward and the integration easy for Panic. This solution allowed Panic to manage and optimize their devices without relying on the user’s explicit involvement, providing a smooth experience for their gaming community. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Networks & Connectivity - Bluetooth

Networks & Connectivity - WiFi

Applicable Industries

Electronics

Equipment & Machinery

Use Cases

Behavior & Emotion Tracking

Leakage & Flood Monitoring

Services

Hardware Design & Engineering Services

System Integration

Challenge

Panic, a Portland-based corporation known for its Mac apps and video games, was venturing into a new territory with the development of their own handheld video game system, Playdate. The company was aware that releasing a gaming device would present new challenges compared to their previous software-based products. They were determined not to compromise on product quality. To ensure a continuously improved product experience for their customers, Panic needed a way to deliver firmware updates post the shipping of the devices. Additionally, they realized early on that obtaining useful crash reports from users would be a challenge. They needed an efficient system to monitor device metrics to catch and resolve issues before they escalated.

About Customer

Panic is a corporation based in Portland, Oregon, known for its dedication to creating products that bring everyday joy. Initially a Mac app developer, Panic has expanded its portfolio to become a focused video game publisher. Some of their notable releases include Firewatch, Untitled Goose Game, and the upcoming interactive food game, Nour: Play With Your Food. In line with their mission of creating joyful products, Panic has developed their own handheld video game system, Playdate. The company operates in the video games industry and is located in San Francisco, CA. Their gaming device uses an STM32, ESP32 chipset and operates on FreeRTOS. The device offers WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity.

Customer Name

Panic

Solution

Panic understood that they lacked the resources and time to build these solutions in-house. They turned to Memfault, an all-in-one solution for debugging, Over-The-Air (OTA) updates, and device monitoring. Memfault's understanding and passion for the embedded space made them the ideal partner to help make Panic's first handheld gaming system a success. Memfault’s direct support for devices utilizing ARM Cortex-M Microcontrollers (MCUs) and FreeRTOS made the decision even more straightforward and the integration easy for Panic. This solution allowed Panic to manage and optimize their devices without relying on the user’s explicit involvement, providing a smooth experience for their gaming community.

Impact #1	With the implementation of Memfault, Panic has been able to manage and optimize their devices without the need for user involvement, providing a seamless experience for their gaming community. The company can now easily monitor the health of each device in their fleet, push new updates to their users, and quickly debug any issue that arises, all on the Memfault platform. Memfault has also fostered increased synergy between teams at Panic. The QA team can distribute builds to test devices and collect crash reports, while the firmware team uses Memfault’s dashboard to monitor the devices, track issues, and push firmware releases out. The ability to split devices into cohorts for monitoring and updates has proven extremely useful for efficient teamwork.

Impact #1

With the implementation of Memfault, Panic has been able to manage and optimize their devices without the need for user involvement, providing a seamless experience for their gaming community. The company can now easily monitor the health of each device in their fleet, push new updates to their users, and quickly debug any issue that arises, all on the Memfault platform. Memfault has also fostered increased synergy between teams at Panic. The QA team can distribute builds to test devices and collect crash reports, while the firmware team uses Memfault’s dashboard to monitor the devices, track issues, and push firmware releases out. The ability to split devices into cohorts for monitoring and updates has proven extremely useful for efficient teamwork.

Benefit #1	Faster issue discovery and resolution with coredump view
Benefit #2	Segmented rollouts & monitoring with cohorts
Benefit #3	Increased synergy between firmware & QA teams

Benefit #1

Faster issue discovery and resolution with coredump view

Benefit #2

Segmented rollouts & monitoring with cohorts

Benefit #3

Increased synergy between firmware & QA teams

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Overview

Panic's Successful Launch of Handheld Video Game System with Memfault

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit