Massively Multiplayer Online Science

What Massively Multiplayer Online Science does

MMOS (Massively Multiplayer Online Science) is a Swiss Sàrl founded in 2014 and headquartered at BioArk in Monthey, Switzerland. The company operates a citizen-science platform that channels human gameplay effort into solving real scientific research problems, by embedding classification mini-games inside commercial video games and MOOC platforms. Its two flagship deployments are Project Discovery inside CCP Games' EVE Online (launched 2016) and Borderlands Science inside Gearbox Software's Borderlands 3 (launched 2020), with scientific verticals spanning protein structure classification (Human Protein Atlas), exoplanet identification, and gut microbiome mapping (Microsetta Initiative at UC San Diego).

The company's core technology is the MMOS API, a standardized thin interface that converts research datasets into game-embeddable tasks while aggregating player classifications back into validated scientific outputs. Academic partners include the University of Geneva, McGill University, KTH, and VIB, lending scientific credibility and supplying a pipeline of new datasets. The platform has reportedly generated hundreds of millions of classifications through Borderlands Science, demonstrating strong engagement at the user level.

MMOS's business model combines non-dilutive grant funding — notably an EU Horizon 2020 grant (agreement Nr 732703, awarded 2016) — with B2B partnerships and likely revenue-share or licensing arrangements with game publishers and MOOC providers. The firm is bootstrapped in the venture sense (no disclosed VC funding), operationally lean (two named founders: Bernard Revaz, a PhD physicist, and CEO Attila Szantner), and has not disclosed commercial revenue figures, indicating it is still primarily grant-funded and pre- or early-revenue commercially.

Name

Massively Multiplayer Online Science

Legal name

MMOS Sàrl

Website

https://mmos.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Citizen Science Software Platform

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

SDKs, APIs & Platform Integration Tools (Console/Store/Identity) (MPAFAFAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Gaming Community, Chat & LFG Platforms (BPAMAKAK), Live-Service & MMO Game Studios (MPAFAAAD)

Keywords

• Citizen science platform
• Scientific crowdsourcing
• Game-based research
• Player contribution analytics
• Research data classification

Headquarters

HQ city

Monthey

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. EU Horizon 2020 Research Grant: MMOS received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement Nr 732703. The GAPARS consortium led by MMOS ranked first in a call on gamification of the European Commission.
2. B2B Partnerships with Game Studios: Partnerships with game publishers (CCP Games, Gearbox Software) where MMOS provides the citizen science infrastructure and integration services. Revenue likely generated through partnership fees or collaborative funding.
3. MOOC Platform Integration: Using the same concept and technology to offer students of MOOCs the possibility to work on real life research material. Partnership with educational institutions.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

MMOS provides a citizen science platform and standardized MMOS API that integrates real scientific research tasks (protein classification, exoplanet detection, microbiome DNA mapping) into AAA video games as native gameplay mechanics, narrative elements, and visuals. Game studios integrate the thin API interface without modifying their core codebases, while research institutions supply datasets and receive aggregated, consensus-validated classifications back from millions of engaged gamers who earn in-game rewards for their contributions.

Product overview

Massively Multiplayer Online Science (MMOS) is a Swiss citizen science platform that connects scientific research with video games through its core MMOS API. The platform enables research tasks to be fully integrated with game mechanics, narrative, and visuals. Key products include Project Discovery (citizen science minigame in EVE Online for protein and exoplanet classification), Borderlands Science (microbiome mapping in Borderlands 3), and the MMOS API itself which provides the technological infrastructure for any game company or MOOC to incorporate citizen science tasks. The platform converts gaming time into productive scientific research contributions while providing engaging gameplay experiences.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MMOS API: A standardized API providing a thin interface between scientific research data and games or MOOCs. Takes care of task allocation, tracking and scoring player performance, giving feedback to game reward systems, and aggregating results for scientific research.
• Project Discovery
• Borderlands Science

Products and services

• MMOS API A standardized API that provides a thin interface between scientific research data and video games or MOOCs. It handles task allocation to players, tracking and scoring player performance, gives feedback to game reward systems, and aggregates results for scientific research, enabling any game company to integrate citizen science without modifying their core codebase.
• Project Discovery (Human Protein Atlas) Citizen science minigame integrated into EVE Online where players classify immunofluorescent subcellular microscopy images from the Human Protein Atlas to map how human proteins are distributed in cells, while earning in-game rewards.
• Project Discovery Exoplanets Citizen science minigame within EVE Online where players classify light-curve data from the CoRoT space mission to detect transiting exoplanets, in partnership with the University of Geneva's Department of Astronomy.
• Borderlands Science Citizen science mini-game within Borderlands 3 where players map the human gut microbiome by connecting colored DNA brick shapes, advancing medical microbiome research for McGill University and The Microsetta Initiative at UC San Diego.
• COVID-19 Flow Cytometry in EVE Online Citizen science project in EVE Online in which players contribute to COVID-19 flow cytometry analysis as part of MMOS's life sciences research portfolio.

Quantifiable outcome

• 17+ million classifications in first year of Project Discovery
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability5 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Gearbox SoftwarecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 April 2020Frisco, Texas-based game studio that created Borderlands 3. Partnered with MMOS to create Borderlands Science, a minigame for mapping the human gut microbiome. Players decode DNA of gut microbes by connecting colored shapes.
• McGill UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 April 2020Canada's top-ranked medical doctoral university. The Phylo team from McGill worked on the DNA puzzle algorithms for Borderlands Science. Professor Jérôme Waldispühl led the academic collaboration.
• The Microsetta Initiative at UC San Diego School of MedicinecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 April 2020Global extension of the American Gut Project. Aim to allow anyone in the world to participate in microbiome citizen science. Have DNA sequenced over 25,000 samples from more than 20,000 participants, generating data for 100+ peer-reviewed publications.
• CCP GamescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIcelandic company that created EVE Online, the world's largest sci-fi MMORPG. CCP and MMOS collaborated to create Project Discovery, integrating citizen science classification tasks into EVE Online as gameplay. This partnership enabled hundreds of thousands of EVE players to contribute to scientific research.
• Human Protein AtlascoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwedish research project building a map of how all human proteins are distributed in the body. The Human Protein Atlas provides immunofluorescent microscopy images for MMOS players to classify. Contains over 13 million images used by 100,000+ researchers monthly.
• University of GenevacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwiss university whose Department of Astronomy collaborated on Project Discovery Exoplanets. Analyzed 176,802 CoRoT light-curves classified by EVE Online players, identifying hundreds of exoplanet transit candidates.
• KTH Royal Institute of Technology StockholmsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwedish technical university, part of the GAPARS consortium. Associated with the Human Protein Atlas project and contributes scientific expertise.
• Reykjavik UniversitysupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerIcelandic university that collaborated on Project Discovery alongside CCP Games and Human Protein Atlas. Students from CADIA helped implement early prototypes.
• VIB (Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerLife sciences research institute in Flanders, Belgium. Part of the GAPARS consortium for EU Horizon 2020 funding.
• Virgo Systems LtdsupportingTechnology or IntegrationHungarian IT solution provider. Co-founded by Attila Szantner (MMOS CEO). Part of the GAPARS consortium, providing technical expertise.
• National Museum of Natural History, ParissupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerFrench natural history museum leading the 65 Millions d'Observateurs citizen science initiative. MMOS participated in the opening ceremony and hopes to contribute to this 4-year citizen science effort.
• University of AmsterdamsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerDutch university part of the GAPARS consortium for EU Horizon 2020 funding.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Foldit: A pioneering citizen science game from University of Washington where players solve protein folding puzzles. Directly comparable as a game-based citizen science platform targeting life sciences research, with similar challenges in engagement and dropout mitigation.
• Zooniverse: The largest and most established citizen science web platform, enabling volunteers to participate in research projects across many disciplines. Directly comparable as a citizen science engagement platform, though delivered through a website rather than embedded in games.
• Stardust@Home: UC Berkeley citizen science project where volunteers search for interstellar dust particles in aerogel collectors. Comparable as a citizen science platform focused on image-based classification for astronomy/space research.
• Eyewire: A citizen science game from the Seung Lab at Princeton where players map neural connections by playing a 3D puzzle game. Comparable as a game-based citizen science platform for neuroscience research using crowdsourced human computation.
• Phylo (McGill): McGill University project (and a current MMOS partner) that uses a puzzle game for DNA multiple sequence alignment. Directly comparable as game-based citizen science for biological research, and notably a partner rather than competitor in MMOS's Borderlands Science project.
• Eterna (EteRNA): A citizen science game from Stanford where players design RNA molecules. Comparable as a game-based citizen science platform targeting molecular biology research with similar crowdsourced experimental validation loops.

Broad incumbents

• Amazon Mechanical Turk: Amazon's crowdsourcing marketplace for distributed human intelligence tasks including data labeling. Comparable as an alternative channel for research institutions needing large-scale human-labeled datasets, though uses paid workers rather than intrinsically-motivated gamers.

Emerging players

• SciStarter: A citizen science hub and project discovery platform affiliated with Arizona State University. Comparable as a citizen science infrastructure/aggregator, but with a broader, non-game-centric focus and a different business model.
• iNaturalist: Joint initiative of California Academy of Sciences and National Geographic for citizen science biodiversity observations. Comparable as a major citizen science platform but focused on naturalist observation rather than embedded gaming; represents the scale MMOS could aspire to.

Others

• Galaxy Zoo: Pioneering Zooniverse astronomy citizen science project for galaxy morphology classification. Comparable in its use of crowdsourced classification for astronomical data, but operates as a research project rather than a platform business.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/mmos_ch
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/massively-multiplayer-online-science
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCkrL4L4kgaXgk5k2wD3VDLw

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Massively Multiplayer Online Science