Business in Virtual Worlds News Roundup - Dec 15-28 2008
Headlines about virtual worlds from the past two weeks.
For other weeks, see the archive page.
This will be the last post of 2008, and coincidentally an extra-long one since I didn’t post last week due to the holidays. Looks like I wrote my Top 10 Metaverse Trends of 2008 at a good time. Predictions to come!
Disclaimer: As with everything on my blog, the opinions expressed here are mine and do not reflect on Clever Zebra, the vBusiness Expo, my friends, my family, my blip channel, any of the other “Jack of All Strange” stuff that I do, etc etc etc… k here we go:
Top Stories
Game and virtual world fundings top $500 million in 2008
Expect others to come up with other numbers, but this is a nice overview for the year. VentureBeat did a great job summarizing things here.
92% of VCs Predict Investment Slowdown in 2009
Not at all surprising, but not necessarily true either. This was the year of the economic crisis, and yet there was strong investment. We’ll see!
Playdo Gets $4.3M from Miniclip and Northzone
Nice union of winning companies there.
Virtual world maker Gaia cuts staff by 13 percent
Due to “unfavorable market conditions”, just after getting $11 million third round of funding.
FooMojo Closes $9.9 Million in Series A
See related story and commentary under Gaming below.
What Cost Per Lead (CPL) Should I Pay for Virtual Tradeshow Sponsorships?
A nice writeup by someone who does work similar to Clever Zebra’s. Worth a quick read if you’re considering more of a Tradeshow presence than a permanent one.
NSF Gives $800k to Research Virtual World Scalability and Access
“In October, the National Science Foundation gave two grants totaling $800,000 to a team of researchers at Stanford and Princeton to fund research on making virtual worlds more scalable and easy to innovate on.”
Buyer’s market as crunch hits virtual realty
A nice overview of the market correction going on with virtual goods. Some of this stuff was way over-valued to begin with, but prices seem to have adjusted a little more properly now. The point is made here that the general trend remains in growth.
NHS Sees Community Benefits from Avatars
UK’s National Health Service has integrated avatar chat into their online health resource tool and have reported tangible benefits.
3DNPVEI Unveils X3Daemon 3D Multiuser Network Server & Office Towers Virtual World
Press Release, only included here really to call attention to the fact that that the Office Towers exists. Business-oriented browser-based world, but sorry, Firefox not supported… which pretty much means I won’t be going…
Cuts at Doppleganger; vSide Going Strong
Hey, it happens. More vSide news under Marketing.
Yilport’s virtual world
A very cool crane simulator!
Training and Education
RIT students create new virtual island
Welcome The Rochester Institute of Technology to the virtual world.
UI finds its place in Second Life
Welcome University of Northern Iowa.
Chobots Partners with Primary Games for Distribution
Primary Games is a popular edu portal, Chobots is a family-focused virtual world. Good match!
Government and Military
Retailers open shop in Second Life
I posted last week about the Canada Post build, but this adds a few details and has some worthwhile screenshots.
SecretBuilders and HuffPo Launch Political Contest
Kids everywhere get to tell the Prez how he should end world hunger. Or create a national Free Candy day. Either way. (See full press release.)
Georgia City Wants to Develop a Virtual World Interface
Not the first city to do it, won’t be the last. See the complete Request for Information (RFI).
Marketing
Whyville and vSide Next for Virtual Greats
Two well-developed worlds sign up to pay the Virtual Greats middle-man for celebrity and luxury content. My fave quote: “12-year-olds are almost as interested in Elvis as they are in Paris Hilton.” Huh, who knew?
Charity as a Unique Value Proposition in Elf Island
Elf Island’s unique draw: donate to charity by having your kids play games. Also see full press release.
Garfield Partners with Studiocom
Company that created BarbieGirls.com now working on a Garfield world. Garfield… between that and Peanuts you could probably create an experience that would put me in a permanent coma of boredom. But that’s just me.
Gaming
Play Station’s Virtual Home Is Less Than Hospitable
This is the Washington Post article, but that’s the general consensus. Hands up everyone who saw this coming.
Empire of Sports Goes to Open Beta
Sports games aimed at the adult market.
ActionAllStars.com Launches Today
Press release. More sports.
A World of My Own Launches Public Beta; World Coming
Game-downloading service. Buy games, rent them hourly or for a weekend, or subscribe with a flat monthly fee. You can also get free downloads. There’s supposed to be a world coming similar to Home… but after seeing Home, I’m starting to think they should save their money.
Q&A: Designing Virtual World Toys with Ginny McCormick, Techno Source
Interview about Disney’s odd content-sharing experiment.
FooPets Launches Realistic Virtual Pets, World on the Way
Don’t underestimate this one. Virtual pets have a LONG history. Remember how obsessed kids got with Tamagotchi? It’s also worth noting that Neopets Gained 8.6M Users in 2008.
Nerds Only
N-Sided® announces [...] a new [...] QUIDAM [...] for avatars [...]
Press Release. The full title was a mile long and somehow told you less. Long story short: new avatar-creation tool for use with existing game and virtual world platforms. Always a good sign that things are moving along nicely when niche markets show healthy growth.
Back to the Future: Recreating Ancient Architecture in the Virtual World
There are 3D Sketchup models of several ancient structures available through Google Earth. Article has links.
Advanced Workplace Associates Looking at Home for Business
“Advanced Workplace Associates has commissioned a group of British researchers to investigate how Home, the new virtual world for the PlayStation 3, could be used for business purposes.” Home of all platforms? Well… maybe they wanted something that was truly plug-and-play. Face it, most worlds make getting in and navigating pretty awkward.
Virtual Worlds User Interface for the Blind
IBM starts building virtual world support for the blind. Downloadable demo available!
Newbs Only
Second Life founder finds virtual world a ‘very interesting alternative to reality’
In other news, Ford founder finds cars a ‘very interesting alternative to walking’.
Green wedding idea: Host your wedding in a virtual world
Not a new idea by any means, but if it’s new to you, here’s a good overview. Oh, and video!
Sociological Oddities
Tracking Santa in Mirror Worlds
We can track Santa in Mirror Worlds but I can’t find my car keys. Sheesh.
Second Life pair are now really married
Aaawwwwwwwww!
