Winning in Wireless: Year 1, a 3D simulation for senior executives

Winning in Wireless: Year 1 is a business simulation for senior executives, built by Visual Purple, LLC, a simulation technology firm in San Luis Obispo, California. It began as a pilot with BTS: an existing BTS computer-based training simulation was moved into a 3D virtual world with non-player characters. The first version, released in April 2009, was a downloadable application.

On October 21, 2009, Visual Purple released a beta of the game running directly in a web browser. The company pointed to several features of that version. It updates automatically, it has a custom plug-in for use behind a corporate firewall, it can work from a learning management system, it plays on private networks and it has a standalone mode. Companies could deploy it behind their firewall or through one, on an ordinary PC.

The game is single-player, though it can be designed for several players. The player takes the role of a CEO and works through decisions the way a company leader would. Visual Purple says finishing the game teaches why a strong CEO matters and what the role involves, and it refreshes the basics of building forecasts and plans.

Decisions run through a tool the game calls the iTool, and the player also practices aligning a company's vision, values and mission. The design aims to build empathy for the roles and skills of others in an organization, not only skill in one role. Visual Purple presented the browser version as a low-cost way to deliver customized virtual-world training to corporate and government employees.

Visual Purple described itself in 2009 as working across virtual world, embedded and decision-based training, and as certified on the Central Contractor Registration database as a Women-Owned Small Business.

Visual Purple is still operating. Its website now describes the company as creating custom game- and cinematic-based virtual training products, mainly VR training simulations, and its menu lists Projects, Industries, Careers and Contact Us among its sections. A Games link in the menu leads to a different website.

Winning in Wireless is not mentioned on the home page, and no official page offering it turned up. The directory therefore lists the game's status as not confirmed. The 2009 browser version relied on a custom plug-in for some deployments, so a surviving page would still need to offer a version that runs today.