Metaversum Begins Beta Registration for Twinity

German-based Metaversum is getting ready to launch its closed beta test of the new virtual world Twinity. There's no firm start date as the company is still in preparations mode. However, last Friday EVP of Community & Operations Jeremy Snyder noted that the company will begin allowing groups of 20-100 people in within a few weeks depending on testing needs and back-end support. By the end of the year, the company hopes to have 1500 testers in the virtual world. Of course, the company told Nick Wilson of Metaversed that it would be launching a beta within a few weeks back in July, so that time line is open to interpretation. Sign up information is here.

Metaversum's first project was a 3D gallery in Second Life for a German design group, and it now has one product already in beta, the social network and "urban stylesharing" tool Yumondo. Yumondo got a positive early look from ReadWriteWeb and Mashable with its backer drawing praise from Alarm:Clock.  Metaversum is hiring people to fill 13 new positions, so at least the company itself must be feeling optimistic.

Metaversum has said that Twinity will run on a real cash economy, but provide less freedom for sales than worlds like Second Life and no in-world way to build user-generated content. It will run on traditional Web technologies for Web integration and inventory management, but also some undisclosed proprietary software.

Just from the teaser announcement, it seems as if the world is meant to be more realistic than some others.

Imagine a virtual world that brings the dream of “virtual reality” back to life – a place bursting with real people and real experiences. Twinity is not an exercise in digital escapism. Instead, think of it as the virtual extension of your life. Even your avatar will look pretty familiar…

With a social network in Metaversum's portfolio already focused on building out real-world relationships and extending your presence to new cities and styles, it sounds like there's a clear direction for the virtual world.