Immersive software for meetings will expand the information work. Enterprise immersive software trends for 2010. Are Forterra and Metaplace Just the First Two Dominos to Fall? Over the next few weeks you're going to see a lot of analysis, punditry and speculation related to the massive layoffs at Forterra Systems and the January 1st closure of Metaplace's virtual world building site. So I thought I'd add my two cents before all the digital hot air steams up the place.For starters, I'm surprised more virtual world start-ups haven't already bitten the dust.
The odds are less than 50/50 that a small business start-up of any kind will survive for four years. So the demise of two ventures doesn't necessarily reflect on the industry as a whole. Especially since they were really in two very different markets. So are Forterra and Metaplace just the first two dominos to fall? Okay, let the spin begin! Virtual world designer Metaplace to shutter | Geek Gestalt - CNE.
Metaplace, a service that allowed anyone to create a Web-based virtual world, said late Monday that it is closing its doors. In an announcement made by e-mail, the company--founded by legendary game designer Raph Koster--said it will shutter on New Year's day. "Today we have unfortunate news to share with the Metaplace community," the company wrote in the e-mail. "We will be closing down our service on January 1, 2010 at 11:59 pm Pacific...We will be having a goodbye celebration party on January 1st at noon Pacific Time. "Over the last several years, we here at Metaplace have been working very hard to create an open platform allowing anyone to come to a Web site and create a virtual world of their own.
Unfortunately, over the last few months it has become apparent that Metaplace as a consumer (user-generated content) service is not gaining enough traction to be a viable product, requiring a strategic shift for our company. " Metaplace could not be immediately reached for comment. Second Life. IBM Episode 6. Money for nothing? Virtual goods market takes off ( - Internet - Social networking and multiplayer online games are fueling dramatic growth in hard cash earned from goods that exist only in the world of online make-believe, according to companies in that market gathered at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. For mainstream consumer electronics vendors, last year may have been "a year none of us would wish to repeat," as Consumer Electronics Association President and CEO Gary Shapiro put it in a speech opening CES Thursday.
Industry revenue dropped 7 percent in 2009, he said. But for the group assembled Wednesday at a CES panel discussion on the business of virtual goods and online gaming, 2009 was a very good year indeed. Some vendors estimate that U.S. revenue grew from a negligible base in 2008 to US$1.2 billion in 2009, with projections to at least double in 2010. (The worldwide market, led by Asia, is estimated at about $6 billion.) Interacting with unknown avatars in old-style virtual worlds may not have held much mainstream appeal.