Virtual Worlds News

Viacom division MTV Networks Asia is partnering with Singapore developer GigaMedia Limited to finally develop a Spongebob Squarepants MMO. This will be the first virtual world featuring Nickelodeon's now-classic character, though Nickelodeon first announced a similar project two years ago. Viacom acknowledges this game, to be jointly published by both developers, as the first. The title will launch simultaneously in numerous Asian territories, including China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and India. 

The Spongebob MMO will be Viacom's first game project with a studio outside the US. The MMO will actually be developed with Asian audiences primarily in mind, particularly casual gamers. Nickelodeon animators will help develop the look of the avatars and environments of the game, though it's not clear if it's intended to be primarily in 2D or 3D. The MMO will be a freemium game that monetizes through microtransaction sale of virtual goods, Flash videos, and casual games to play within the world. 

[via Worlds in Motion]

Women's shaving cream brand Skintimate is partnering with virtual world WeeWorld for the Skintimate Studios viral campaign. The multi-channel campaign will include placement in WeeWorld's WeeMee Avatar Creator App, social features embedded into WeeWorld itself, videos, interactive media, and branded virtual goods. 

 Tokyo-based virtual world developer 3Di has developed a client for Android 2.2 that can view OpenSim 3D virtual worlds on a Google Nexus One handset. In addition, 3Di has developed protocol technology that allows a server extension module for OpenSim and a connection module that makes it possible to freely develop viewers for Android 2.2 handsets. 3Di is currently recruiting industry partners interested in finding practical applications for virtual worlds use on Android. 

Possible uses for the viewer that 3Di suggests include viewing Google TV, using Twitter, online gaming, location-based services, augmented reality apps, and social media as potential uses for its Android OpenSim viewer. 3Di seems to have ambitions to extend the viewer to networked consumer electronics like tablet PCs, game devices, ebook readers, other smartphones, smart TVs, and even GPS navigation units. The viewer uses Flash Player 10.1 as part of its display software. 

Vindicia is partnering with the prepaid card firm InComm to broaden its payment reach. The partnership will add support for InComm's prepaid cards to Vindicia's CashBox service. This will allow Vindicia's partners to accept payment through InComm's prepaid game cards. Payment types supported with the prepaid cards will include microtransactions, lump sum payment, and subscription billing. Vindicia's payment solution partners include Blizzard, Outspark, Cryptic, and Realtime Worlds. 

"We have seen 200% growth in prepaid gaming year over year, for the last two years," said Brian Parlotto, Senior Vice President of Consumer Products and International at InComm, in a press statement. "We’re pleased to partner with Vindicia so that our mutual clients can work with a single integration point to manage all of their payment options, maximizing their ability to acquire new customers and remain competitive in today’s complex and challenging online environment."

Today Zynga launched its latest social game, a pioneer-themed farming and city-building sim called FrontierVille. The game is noteworthy for being the first game developed by the Baltimore-based Zynga East studio headed by Zynga Chief Designer Brian Reynolds, a veteran game designer who worked on influential PC titles like Civilization II, Alpha Centauri, and Rise of Nations. A major new feature for FrontierVille is giving players the ability to control several onscreen avatars at once. 

Second Life parent Linden Lab is restructuring and will lay off 30% of its staff in the process. Linden employs about 350 people as of this writing, so that means around 100 employees will lose their jobs. Linden states that the restructuring will make the company more profitable by improving its geographic and cost efficiencies, so it can focus on long-term development goals like a browser-based client and better social network integration.

IBM and ProtonMedia are partnering to create 3D virtual world solutions that can be used by life science enterprises. The terms of the agreement calls for IBM to use ProtonMedia's ProtoSphere technology as the basis of the virtual worlds. IBM's Global Businesses Division will integrate, deploy, and install the virtual worlds for customers, as well as providing consultancy services. 

Metaverse Mod Squad has added Nora Brennan as its new Director of Human Resources. She will oversee all human resource functions for Metaverse's worldwide organization of community managers, moderators, and customer service agents. Brennan comes to Metaverse from Linden Labs, where she joined as the company's first human resource professional in 2006. 

"Nora is exactly what we need right now," said Metaverse CEO Amy Pritchard.  "She earned a well-deserved reputation at Linden Lab for rolling out innovative HR programs while the company was expanding throughout the U.S. and around the world.  Maintaining our unique company culture, while growing in a smart and organized way is of paramount concern to us.  She’s a perfect fit."

Developers Citizant and Cranial Tap have announced a partnership to develop 3D environments in Second Life for use by federal agencies. The spaces will be designed with collaboration, training, and data visualization in mind. Citizant specializes in business and sharing solutions for federal agencies while Cranial Tap specializes in developing Second Life virtual spaces for enterprise use. 

"By working with Cranial Tap, we will link EA models and other data sources dynamically in real-time 3-D environments. The results are mind-boggling in their effectiveness for managing and collaborating on complex information sets," said Adel Harris, Business Transformation Solutions Director at Citizant, in a press statement. 

The freemium games portal Ijji.com has integrated with Facebook Connect, which will make it easier for Ijji gamers to connect with others on Facebook and share in-game achievements. This will allow Ijji.com users to log in to their accounts with their Facebook credentials and send invites to friends to join Ijji's games.

Today the Unity Engine, widely used in development of virtual worlds, celebrates its fifth anniversary. As of this writing, Unity serves over 170,000 developers using platforms as disparate as the Web, iPhone, iPad PC, Android, Mac, Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Over 30 million Unity Web players have been installed. In 2009, widely thought a down year for technology firms, Unity tripled in size.

DataWorks Studios has been awarded gold status in Linden Lab's Solution Provider Program, which is designed to make it easy for educators and enterprises interested in using Second Life to find development partners. DataWorks Studios was awarded gold status based on client references and its track record of successfully delivered Second Life enterprise projects. Linden Lab has only awarded gold status to 35 developers worldwide.