Welcome to the
Virtual Worlds News Wrap-Up for the week of March 19, 2010. The Wrap-Up
is where VWN spotlights stories that we didn't get to cover
individually, but still make for interesting reading about the virtual worlds industry.
Continue reading "Virtual World Wrap-Up For The Week Of March 19" »
This Saturday TeamPalz.com will be heading for a public launch. The new kids virtual world aims at bringing together online socializing with kids' love for real world sports. There are plenty of sports-themed worlds out there (e.g., ActionAllstars, the NFL's own world, ToppsTown, UpperDeckU, etc.) that have partnerships or licensing agreements with leagues or teams. While TeamPalz is currently avoiding costly licenses and partnerships, it's hoping to capitalize on an untapped audience.
"TeamPalz is very gender neutral," explained Co-Founder Kevin Bernadt. "During our research of other sports-themed virtual worlds, almost all of them seemed very male-centric. Girls’ sports are a huge under-marketed force out there, and we’re including sports such as softball, dance, cheer, and make sure our basketball and soccer experiences are friendly for both girls and boys. Volleyball will be one of the first sports we add down the line."
Continue reading "TeamPalz Launching Sports-Themed World" »
Yesterday the online social game World Golf Tour announced that it had raised a $10 million Series C round lead by Japanese firm JAFCO Ventures with participation by existing investors, according to Venture Beat.
The company also announced the formation of a long-term partnership
with the United States Golf Association, which governs professional
golf in the US.
Continue reading "World Golf Tour Raises $10M Series C Round" »
Today the social game developer Playdom invested a $5 million Series A round of funding in the Argentinian social games start-up MetroGames.
As part of the round, Playdom COO John Pleasants will be joining the
MetroGames board. The company will use the funding to help develop both
new games and its technology platform. MetroGames has developed about
30 games to date, which are available both on Facebook and its own
Website.
Continue reading "Playdom Invests $5M In MetroGames" »
Metaverse Mod Squad and Inversoft have announced a strategic partnership to package and market each other's services aimed at simplifying Web and virtual world moderation. Inversoft recently launched Clean Speak, which automatically filters and analyzes real-time chat. The Mod Squad, in turn, has long provided expert assistance in moderation and community management.
Continue reading "Metaverse Mod Squad, Inversoft Parter Up" »
With the news last month that Oracle would be shutting down development resources for Project Wonderland, the open-source virtual world platform originally supported by Sun Microsystems, associated developers began looking for alternatives. Last week saw the launch of the Open Wonderland Foundation, a non-profit devoted to providing a free and open-source platform for virtual worlds based on Project Wonderland.
Ken Miller, CEO of Virtual Learning Labs, will serve as Open Wonderland's first President and Chairman of the board. Nicole Yankelovich, who initiated and helped run the Wonderland project while at Sun, will oversee the transition of the project as Executive Director.
Continue reading "Non-Profit Open Wonderland Launches" »
Simutronics announced today that Idea Fabrik had licensed its HeroEngine to create a new virtual world, Echoverse. Idea Fabrik says Echoverse will combine real and digital life as well as commerce and entertainment. Idea Fabrik is working out of Kiev, but it seems like it's either working with or bringing in an Austin-based studio as well.
Continue reading "Idea Fabrik Licenses HeroEngine For Virtual World, Working With Austin-Based Nasus Consulting?" »
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