Why Virtual Worlds Are Overtaking the Game Industry
(* Source : Virtual World News *)
CVSherman says :
The bar for online gaming has been raised, with community becoming as important as gameplay. Virtual worlds and Web 2.0 habits are driving users to worlds that support socializing instead of questing and user-created content instead of magic. World of Warcraft may have nine million subscribers, but Habbo Hotel has 7.5 million users per month, and it's growing. BarbieGirls.com grew at over 40,000 new members per day to reach four million registered users after only three months of its public beta. Gartner Research predicts that 80 percent of the online population will be involved in non-gaming virtual worlds by 2011.
"The game industry may have created the idea of online entertainment, but the days of orcs and elves ruling the online space is drawing to a close," said Christopher Sherman, Executive director of the upcoming Virtual Worlds Fall Conference and Expo taking place October 10-11 at the San Jose Convention Center. The show is attracting big wigs from across the entertainment industry.
"There will always be a place for platforms that just want to allow users to play a game together, but now interaction is key. Community is key," said Sherman who jumped from the game industry to the virtual worlds industry late last year. "The content revolves around and facilitates the community. Treating the online environment like less of a game and more of community or virtual world is key. Major media companies are now looking at anything they do as online entertainment - with a virtual world tied to it."
Case in point: Raph Koster, the former Chief Creative Officer of Sony Online Entertainment, recently took the wraps off of his stealth startup Areae with the announcement of Metaplace. Metaplace is designed to provide an easy-to-use interface allowing users to create virtual worlds that can run anywhere and do anything.
Said Sherman of the announcement, "Whether or not Metaplace is successful, the wake-up call for the game industry has been issued."
Virtual worlds like Kaneva strive to provide activities for their users, including games. Developers like Trilogy Studios, who created a Virtual MTV environment, have a background in next-generation console games like Medal of Honor and The Chronicles of Riddick. It shows in their products. MTV's Virtual Pimp My Ride lets users build experience points while socializing.
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