Virtual Worlds News

IBM Suspended from New Federal Contracts

IBM is currently under an EPA investigation over allegations that the company improperly obtained information about a contract it was bidding on, reports FederalTimes.com. Pending investigation, IBM has been placed on the Excluded Parties List. For now, IBM is barred from receiving new contracts with federal agencies or modifying existing contracts. It's not clear if this will affect IBM's recently announced work with Forterra to create a Unified Communications and Collaboration platform, codenamed Babel Bridge, for the U.S. Intelligence community. [via Federal Times]

Mytopia Adds Support to Hi5 for Game-based Virtual World

Mytopia, a social gaming-based virtual world, has added support to the social network Hi5 in addition to the support it offered for Facebook, Myspace, Bebo and various widget sites  when it launched last week.  “Bringing Mytopia to hi5 users is part of our mission to help the world play together – from any social network, any widget, any online entry point,”  Guy Ben-Artzi, founder and chief executive officer of Mytopia, said in a statement. “Today, online social networks are isolated from one another. Members of different communities really can’t socialize with each other freely. Mytopia and others in the games industry are changing that. We’re building bridges, uniting these islands of isolation to form a larger, converged community that welcomes Internet users from every corner of the modern web.” 

Vivaty (NéeMedia Machines) Launches Private Beta for Web-Embeddable Worlds

Vivaty, formerly known as Media Machines, left stealth mode this weekend to announce a private beta today with an eye toward a public beta in the coming months. The company, which received $9.4 million from Mohr Davidow Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in September, got a very positive write up in the New York Times today in a feature focusing on online chat. A company spokesperson, though, wrote to explain to me that "their vision is much broader than an instant messaging or chat client...it's the same level of depth found in something like Second Life, but inside the browser."

Simmersion Holdings Gets $1.9M Investment from Blue Cove Ventures

Simmersion Holdings, the software company behind SimUrban, has received $1.9 million in an investment from Blue Cove Ventures, which is backed by Japanese firm Hikari Asset Management. The money will towards developing Simmersion's new virtual world, Mycosm, into the private beta mode set to begin in April.  "We are tackling the core problems with virtual worlds: low fidelity, too technical, no control, no fun and no friends," Bob Quodling, CEO, Simmersion Holdings, said in a statement. "Mycosm brings the power of a compelling virtual world platform to everyday users for free."

1150 people from 624 companies participating at VW08

We just updated our numbers and more than 1,150 people from 624 companies (list here) are participating at this week's Virtual Worlds Conference 2008, making this our largest show yet.  Registration ends today, Monday, March 31st, at 11:59pm eastern time (8:59pm pacific time).

Simuality and Code4Software Launch SlippCat for Virtual Worlds Marketing

Code4Software, creator of virtual worlds metrics app V-Tracker, has now released SlippCat with virtual worlds developer Simuality in a 5-year exclusive license. SlippCat is a market platform designed  to take "the strengths of the Metaverse, immersive environments, in-depth user engagement, and virtual economies, to build Empowered Engagement(TM), a "pull" approach to message delivery where the user is in control of how much information they're exposed to, while still building relationships with participating brands." Code4 founder Jared Freeman will also join Simuality as its CTO. The two are also sponsoring this week's Virtual Worlds 2008 in New York City.

Update: Virtual Worlds Executives to Address Congress on Tuesday

We reported last week that The House Committee on Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will be holding a hearing tomorrow on "Online Virtual Worlds:  Applications and Avatars in a User-Generated Medium." The following  witnesses have been announced: Philip Rosedale (Founder and CEO, Linden Lab) Susan Tenby (Senior Manager, Community Development, TechSoup), Dr. Larry Johnson (CEO, The New Media Consortium), and Colin J. Parris, Ph.D. (Vice President, Digital Convergence, IBM Research, IBM Corporation).

MTV to Push Virtual Worlds at Upfronts

On May 8, MTV Networks will host its upfront presentation for media buyers. MTV has already touted the success of marketing across its virtual worlds, now Hank Close (president, U.S. ad sales) and Mika Salmi (president, global digital media) will be making them a central part of the pitch to advertisers. “We’re seeing extraordinary engagement with our Virtual Worlds, and this is leading to the development of all-new ad models....It’s going to be a big piece of what we’ll be talking about,” Close told MediaWeek. Since around this time last year, Salmi has been talking about featuring virtual worlds in MTV's on-air offerings, something Matt Bostwick, SVP of Franchise Development for MTV, has been interested in as well. With more entertainment properties looking for virtual world tie-ins across the board, this year's upfront season should be an interesting one.

Three Rings' Whirled Goes to Open Beta

Three Rings, makers of Puzzle Pirates, launched its newest project into open beta at the end of last week. Whirled is a platform for users to develop casual games and share them in a Web-based environment tying together social networks, virtual worlds, and virtual goods--all of which, it seems, can also be shaped and formed by users. Also, you begin your time in the world as a happy piece of tofu and immediately wander into a room playing "Strawberry Fields Forever." From a personal aesthetic standpoint, I'm a very, very happy piece of tofu. From a content standpoint, as of this morning there were 7944 players (not sure if that's online or registered), 13,518 places, and 31 games--not a bad place to launch.

VW08 Registration Ends Today (March 31st) at 11:59pm Eastern Time

Virtual Worlds 2008 registration ends at today (Monday, March 31st) at 11:59pm Eastern Time (8:59pm Pacific Time).  We just wanted to make the note so everyone who wants to register before online registration closes can do so.  We would like to keep registration open later, but we have to print the last of the badges prior to catching the plane to New York early the next morning.  See you at the show.

Who's New to Virtual Worlds - March 30, 2008, Wrap Up

Boston radio station WGBH is opening a virtual studio in Second Life. More info.

Platform Q, a virtual events company, is hosting CollegeWeekLive, a virtual college fair, on iCongo. More info.

Florist Fleurop.com has partnered with Starfruit to sell flowers through Second Life. More info.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare has opened a presence in Second Life. More info.

The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare is trying to raise awareness of mental health and addiction issues through a presence in Second Life. More info.

Handipoints Receives $800k from Charles Rivers and Angels

Handipoints, the virtual world based on encouraging good real-world behavior that we noted earlier this month, has received $800,000 in investment from Charles River Ventures ($250k) and various angel investors, including Keith Rabois, Georges Harik, Gady Nemirovsky, Robert Fanini, and Aydin Senkut. TechCrunch also notes that the world, in beta since November, has seen 150k users so far, averaging 3.5 users per family. The company is also looking at selling virtual goods to parents, who, in turn, can give them to children as rewards. [via TechCrunch]

VW08 Registration Ends This Coming Monday

Online registration for VW08 ends this Monday, March 31st.  Register online for only $895 and secure your spot at the show.  Onsite tickets - if there are any available - will be available for $1,295 beginning at 7:30am on Thursday, April 3rd. If you are already registered please read the badge pick up and party post details here.
- 67 speakers in 5 conference tracks, including keynotes from Mattel, MTV, IBM and Electric Sheep.
- 37 companies showcasing new Virtual Worlds technologies
- 1034 people from over 520 companies are registered

Metachat Heads to Facebook

Metachat, the first official application from Metaplace, debuted on MySpace earlier this month. Now the light-weight chat world has a window open in Facebook as well. That's me with my profile picture for an avatar on the soccer field, kicking the ball around with whoever happened to be online at the time. Whether they're connecting through Facebook, MySpace, or the Metaplace forums, it all goes to the same "big happy cross-SNS virtual worldlet in Flash."  Some have questioned whether an app like this should really be considered a virtual world, but Areae President and Founder Raph Koster defends it: "Well, it supports hundreds to thousands, there’s physics, a sense of place and space, you can kick a soccer ball, interact in real time… the background could scroll, and you could have avatars instead of profile pics. So… close enough, to my mind."

iLemon Developing Adventure Island for Learning English in China

iLemon, a Chinese virtual world developer, is developing Adventure Island, a virtual world designed to help Chinese users learn English through ties to the Adventure Learning Channel's "Adventure Girls." The world is currently going through an internal beta test at the ALC, though it looks like it was targeted for a February launch, and "combines web 2.0 social networking features with web 3.0 virtual world providing users a real-time graphical environment to interact with each other and the show hostesses while learning English in a totally different way."

Codemasters Licenses Bella Sara for DS and PC Games

Bella Sara, the horse-themed collectible card series and virtual world published by Hidden City Games, has already expanded its merchandising line up to include toys. Now it's getting a series of games for the PC and Nintendo DS as well. Codemasters, which established online credentials as a publisher of Lord of the Rings Online. has secured the licensing rights in a worldwide agreement with Hidden City and Granada Ventures, the merchandise, licensing and publishing division of UK  broadcaster ITVplc. "As the leading card and online property for young girls, Bella Sara is a proven success and the perfect addition to Codemasters' casual entertainment category,"  Leon Sanders, Brand Manager, Casual Entertainment, Codemasters, said in a statement. "Signing Bella Sara extends our portfolio to the young female gaming market and, with the immensely popular online world of Bella Sara, the property brings an established computer-friendly audience that already understands its unique, creative playing experience."

Metaversatility and GSD&M Partner for Research

Metaversatilty and GSD&M Idea City announced a partnership today to provide market research within 2D and 3D virtual worlds. The IdeaBot system is meant to automatically conduct surveys within virtual worlds, simplifying quantitative research. "It's a market research survey bot that fields market research entirely in world,"  Metaversatility CEO Peter Haik, who also wrote the bot, told Virtual Worlds News. "Most market research happening now in virtual worlds (but not all) kick you out to a web survey. Another key distinguishing factor is that it's open to basic Second Life accounts, where other systems require you to be premium, greatly limiting your pool of possible responses."

10Tacle Studios Asia CEO Leaves to Work as Virtual World Evangelist

10Tacle Studios Asia's CEO, Aroon Tan, is leaving the company to "pursue his personal evangelistic interest in next-generation virtual worlds." The studio, which in September partnered with MTV to create an online entertainment channel and virtual world, sounds like it is focusing mostly on games expects to still work with Tan for "a series of up-and-coming virtual world and online media projects." Alex Loo, formerly Director of Corporate Planning and the Acting Director of Finance, will step in as Managing Director. "10T Asia was borne out of the strength of the industry, and with this refocusing of the business, 10T Asia continues to involve and revolve around what unique Asia is offering  to the world," said Loo. "I believe we will continue to add value to each new product from conception to launch and by building up strong alliances in the region, we will be in tandem with the explosive growth of the online digital media and games industry."

IMVU to Exit Beta This Summer

IMVU has been in open beta for some time--since April 2004 according to Wikipedia--but it's getting ready to go live. I just received an email from the platform's PR company looking "to put together a group of elite influencers to gather opinions and feedback on the product before we take them out of beta," which will happen some time this summer. The long public beta doesn't seem to have hurt growth, though: IMVU reports over 20 million registered users and 400,000 active users, thousands of content creators who have produced over 1.3 million unique items, and a teen-slanted demographic with "a lot of 20 and 30 somethings using their product" as well.

Interview: SceneCaster to Introduce AdSense

When SceneCaster launched last fall, it came pre-packaged with a business model, linking 3D objects to similar items through affiliate programs on Amazon or eBay or directly through partners' stores. Now it's gearing up to add one more component of the Web's advertising backbone: Google AdSense. "We’re going to add AdSense as well," Founder and SVP Mark Zohar told VirtualWorldsNews.com. "You can click on those buttons [linked from a chair in the scene below] and find highly contextual, relevant services. We’re contextually linking the content and interactions in the scene to the Web. In addition to buying this on eBay or Amazon or any other retail sites, you can get contextually relevant ads to high-backed chairs. Because we’re able to connect the metadata to the objects, we can link that out anywhere."

Virtual Worlds 2008 - Badge Pickup, Show Maps and Last Minute Details

For those of you attending Virtual Worlds Conference 2008 next week in New York City we want to make you aware of a couple of last minute details including badge pickup, networking details, wireless access at the show, and more.  As of this moment 1,002 people are registered to attend the Virtual Worlds 2008 so we expect a busy and exciting event where you will gain firsthand insight and you'll be able to network and get business done with professionals from around the world.  Please review the details below.  See you soon. Travel Safe. If you have not yet registered you can do so online until Monday.

Byron Review: Virtual World Remix

The Byron Review, a report on video games commissioned the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in September, was released today. While the bulk of the focus is on gaming and related review processes and initiatives, a full chapter is devoted to online games and virtual worlds. To save you the trouble of skimming through the 226-page report, we've excerpted every reference to virtual worlds below. (Note: some users are clearly used more generally to mean "the virtual world." It's worth skimming the whole document and paying close attention to the chapter on online games, which is what I'm up to, but I always find a quick reference helpful as well. For another, more local perspective, here's Nic Mitham's summary at K Zero.)

House Committee to Conduct Virtual Worlds Hearing on April 1

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will be holding a hearing this coming Tuesday, April 1, on "Online Virtual Worlds:  Applications and Avatars in a User-Generated Medium" at 9:30 am Eastern. A webcast should be available 10 minutes after the beginning of the meeting and archived by the end of the business day. The subcommittee has jurisdiction over "Interstate and foreign telecommunications including, but not limited to all telecommunication and information transmission by broadcast, radio, wire, microwave, satellite, or other mode." Chairman Edward  J. Markey seems like one of the more Internet-savvy  members of Congress, so the session should be interesting. I'll be in the air at the time on my way to Virtual Worlds 2008, but  I'll be checking out the archive in the evening. Are any of you going to be present at the hearing? [House Committee Schedule]

Numedeon Created SportsBLOX for under $200k

In a November keynote address, Disney President and CEO Bob Iger announced that the company would be developing new virtual worlds, one themed around "Cars" in particular, for millions of dollars instead of hundreds of millions. Then in January, Disney announced that it would spend up to $10 million on developing 10 new worlds. Costs were low because the worlds would be built with experience on existing infrastructures. Numedeon applied the same principle in building SportsBLOX from its 9-year-old platform, but for even more efficiency: "We built our underlying technology engine first, and then have run a number of virtual worlds on top of its for the last nine years," COO Jay Goss told SocialTech.com. "That said, we didn't know what it would take to take our skeleton and build a new skin around it. What we ended up doing, is getting this first new virtual world launched, fully loaded, for less than $200,000. We know what the big boys are doing in respect to virtual worlds, and it takes them millions, and eighteen months to do something like this. We got this off the ground in a matter of months, and with less than $200,000 to staff it up to write the code and generate the artwork. What we found was that from the business model standpoint, we are faster and more nimble than the extremely well-funded media companies and studios in the virtual worlds space."

HiPiHi Draws New CTO from 3Di

HiPiHi has drawn Toshitaka Jiku, former CTO of 3Di, in as the new CTO and Executive  Vice President for the virtual world. "As the global virtual worlds industry flourishes, HiPiHi will play a pivotal role as an evangelist of China’s virtual world," Jiku said in a statement. "I am very happy to be part of this dynamic and forward-thinking team and stand alongside them as we embark on future challenges. I also believe that, through my cooperation with existing HiPiHi talents, we will all be able to accelerate the development of virtual worlds in China. The future is bright and certainly worth looking forward to."

Rivers Run Red Expands Shop in San Francisco

Rivers Run Red has had operations in San Francisco for two years, but the company has grown out of its old home. Serving as the new base for US operations, the larger space will make room to hire new programmers, designers, and support staff. “We are very excited about our expansion in the US at a time when the virtual worlds market is at a crossroads of growth,”  Justin Bovington, CEO, Rivers Run Red, said in a statement. “Again, Rivers Run Red is well positioned to lead as we continue to evolve from virtual worlds to the 3D web.” And, more importantly, you can check out the new digs as well with Google Streetview:

View Larger Map

Study Finds Virtual Worlds SIGs Bullish on Second Life for Collaboration

SRI Consulting Business Intelligence has released a Virtual-Worlds and Collaborative-Work Survey Report, looking at members of various virtual worlds SIGs, including its own Virtual Worlds Consortium, SDForum’s Virtual World SIG, Boulder, Colorado’s  Serious Second Life, and Stanford’s  MetaverseU. As such, it's hardly representative of mainstream use. Or, as the report puts it, "Survey participants therefore have a much higher knowledge of and participation in virtual worlds than is true of the general population." It's definitely still worth a look, though, as a study in the virtual world habits of early adopters.

ABN Ambro Stays in Second Life; Scales Back

Last month we picked up a report that Dutch bank ABN Ambro was leaving Second Life. "This is far from the truth," the company wrote on the Second Life forum. "ABN AMRO is going to sell some of it’s [sic] islands though."  The company purchased 20 sims 16 months ago, but has since learned that it doesn't need that large of a presence in Second Life. It's also since been acquired by Fortis, Banco Santander and RBS, but it's not clear if that is affecting the bank's initiatives in Second Life. If you're interested in scooping up some discarded banking islands, "the monthly rate for these islands is a beneficial and the islands can be transferred including the landscape."  [via Mixedrealities]

Updated: Singapore to Generously Fund Mixed Reality

Last week, Singapore's Interactive Digital Media R&D Programme Office issued a call for proposals to create "'Co (existent) Spaces,' where interoperability between physical and virtual world technologies produce an amalgamation of bespoke experiences that synthesize the benefits of both physical and virtual worlds." Current ideas range from 3D models of Singapore for military training to augmented reality museums to housing estates for urban planning. From the National Research Foundation's $500 million fund, the government is willing to fund over 50% of the development cost.

The Venue Network Partners with Vivox for Virtual Events

The Venue Network, a virtual venue solutions provider, has partnered with Vivox to provide integrated voice chat for its events. The Venue Network is currently in closed beta with an eye towards opening in Autumn 2008 if you believe the press release and Summer 2008 if you believe the website. "TVN is a vivid and creative virtual platform and is an ideal environment for the immersive and collaborative qualities of the Vivox voice solution,”  Rick Frye, vice president of sales for Vivox, said in a statement. “Voice is essential to realizing the full potential of this venue and we are pleased to add TVN to the Vivox Network of voice enabled communities.”

Interview: MyMiniLife for Item Creation and Product Placement

Last week MyMiniLife, a virtual world that looks a little like The Sims writ small, went public with its new item creation system. Users can now create and edit their own objects to place in 2.5D houses. The process isn't automatic--users have to snap a picture of the object, edit out the background, and then upload it--but after two months of beta, 9000 items have been created by the site's 750,000 users.  "We actually didn't initially know how it was going to turn out. We were essentially asking people to take pictures, set up a green screen, and use Photoshop, but for a lot of people it was easier than using 3D modeling tools," said CEO Sizhao Yang, comparing the process to that of creating objects in Second Life. "We took a more primitive approach using pictures. Like Facebook, you can represent  yourself with pictures or text on your social networking profile, and here you can upload your own or buy them from other users."

My Turn: Michael Wilson - Measurement and Engagement: Virtual World Marketing Lessons from the Dot Com Boom

My Turn is a new op-ed feature at VirtualWorldsNews.com, solicited and unsolicited, from industry professionals. If we haven't reached out to you already and you feel like you have an insightful, argumentative opinion to publish, please get in touch with me at joey [at] showinitative [dot] dom. Previously we heard from Richard Gottlieb, an expert on the toy industry, about the rising trend of virtual world-enabled toys. This week's column comes from Michael Wilson, CEO of Makena.

In 1995, the world watched as a whole new industry -- the Internet -- created itself before our very eyes. And, along with that industry, a whole new way for companies to convince customers to buy, or continue buying, their products cropped up. This manifested itself into all kinds of new ad models, ranging from banner ads to pop ups to interstitials, which in turn begat things like traffic deals, click bartering, and a whole host of business models of dizzying variety.

Call for Conference Questions - Virtual Worlds By The Numbers: Today and The Future

I'll be moderating a panel at Virtual Worlds 2008 on  "Virtual Worlds By The Numbers: Today and The Future." Michael Cai (Director, Broadband & Gaming, Parks Associates) and Jack Myers (President, Myers Publishing, LLC) will both be presenting new research, and I'm working with Nic Mitham of KZero to present some of his original work even though he'll be home with his new son. That's a lot of information from some very knowledgeable folks. That said, we'll try to leave plenty of time for questions from the audience, but what would you most like to hear about? Feel free to leave a topic in the comments below.

950 People From 519 Companies Registered for VW08

It will be another full house in New York next week for Virtual Worlds 2008. 950 people from 519 companies will be attending (list here). We have 30 minute breaks between sessions to give attendees plenty of time to network and get business done. Also provided are plenty of areas to network, including a series of attendee lounges and business areas. Registration ends Monday.

Clever Zebra Gets Back to Roots with vBusiness Expo

We reported in January that Metaversed had turned away from providing news and hosting events like Metanomics to work on Clever Zebra, a solutions provider for free, customizable Second Life builds. With registration now open for the inaugural vBusiness Expo, though, the group is getting back to its roots. "The Expo has its own revenue stream," said Founder Nick Wilson. "At the moment there are two distinct parts to our business, events and development -- we produce a free, open source development kit for corporations (think Wordpress for Second Life..) and organize virtual events."

Scotland Yard Hunts for Crime in Second Life

The Metropolitan Police, with help from experts at Portsmouth University, are looking for crime in Second Life. They're not looking for any particular criminal, though. It seems as if they're just trying to determine what sort of crimes, like fraud or money laundering, and how many are being committed in the virtual world. "Millions are made in Second Life,"  Detective Chief Inspector Charlie McMurdie told The Mirror. "Where there's money there's crime." Linden Lab said that it had anti-fraud tools in place and work with any law enforcement group. This month was supposed to bring £1.3 million for McMurdie's e-crime unit, but the government declined to provide the money. With McMurdie herself set to head to a different division, it could be a short investigation.

VW08 Keynote Preview: Sibley Verbeck's A Comprehensive Metaverse

We're pleased to announce that Sibley Verbeck, CEO, The Electric Sheep Company, will provide the day 1 afteroon keynote at next week's VW08 (April 3rd).  Sibley will give a rapid and very specific map of the features and technologies needed to go from the early examples of virtual worlds that exist today to widespread adoption.  While the talk will describe what is needed for a comprehensive metaverse, the details are highly relevant to anyone trying to build and improve virtual worlds, from kids properties to enterprise applications.

Virtual Law Speaker Addition: Justin Brookman, Chief of the Internet Bureau, New York Attorney General

We're excited to welcome Justin Brookman, Chief of the Internet Bureau, for the New York Attorney General's office to the Ethical Concerns for Attorneys and Executives in Virtual Worlds panel at the Virtual Law Conference taking place concurrently with VW2008 next week in NYC.  The Internet Bureau has brought a wide range of important cases and settlements on a number of cutting edge issues, including spam, spyware, privacy, free speech, and protecting children on-line. Prior to joining the Internet Bureau, Mr. Brookman worked at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson in New York and Washington, DC. He received his J.D. from the New York University School of Law and a B.A. from the University of Virginia.

VW08 Bus Service Between Javits and New Yorker

We are providing bus service from the Official Hotel, New Yorker Hotel (34th and 8th avenue, New York, NY 10001) to the