Officials from Scottish developer Realtime Worlds have announced that the company has regained the global distribution rights to forthcoming massively multiplayer online game APB (All Points Bulletin), which it continues to develop at its Dundee studio.

The move follows a widely reported $50 million second round funding deal, although no indication has been given of how much it has cost the developer to buy back the distribution rights from Korean publisher Webzen.

Best known for Xbox 360 title Crackdown, Realtime Worlds was founded by original Grand Theft Auto creator David Jones in 2002, alongside fellow British industry veterans Ian Hetherington and Tony Harman. Although the company’s main development studio is in Scotland, its corporate headquarters is situated in Boulder, Colorado.

“Owning the distribution rights to APB marks a major milestone in Realtime Worlds’ evolution into a premier online entertainment company,” said Jones.

“By controlling the rights to APB we can ensure that gamers around the globe experience the revolutionary gameplay we envisioned when we first began creating the property. We are excited about the prospect of having direct, personal relationships with our players, which is a dream come true for many development studios.”

[The preceding article by David Jenkins originally appeared on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra.]

After issuing a Request for Information in January to evaluate development for a well-funded educational MMO, NASA Learning Technologies has now sent out a Request for Proposals (RFP) indicating that partnering developers will not be paid for their efforts.

NASA Learning Technologies originally budgeted "$1 million a year for fiscal years 2007, 2008 and 2009" for the project, an MMO aiming to teach science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to students in middle school through college. This latest RFP, however, now reveals that the group seeks to establish "a non-reimbursable Space Act Agreement."

Essentially asking developers to create and maintain the proposed MMO for free, NASA Learning Technologies is considering alternative forms of compensation: "In exchange for a collaborator's investment to create and manage a NASA-based MMO game for fun and to enhance STEM, NASA will consider negotiating brand placement, limited exclusivity and other opportunities."

All proposals must be submitted to NASA Learning Technologies by June 18th.

As revealed on the official Austin GDC 2008 website, the September 15th-17th conference at the Austin Convention Center will feature its traditional online game focus alongside audio and writing tracks.

However, this year's Austin Game Developers Conference will also feature significant Worlds In Motion and virtual worlds content alongside the traditional coverage of MMOs.

This follows the major success of the sold-out, standing room only Worlds In Motion Summit at Game Developers Conference 2008 in San Francisco in February 2008.

The Austin GDC 2008 conference, for which registration will open in the near future, has traditionally featured a great deal of content relevant to Worlds In Motion readers, with Habbo's Sulka Haro keynoting AGDC 2007, and this will be further expanded this year.

Initial lecture submissions are now closed for the conference, but more information on the line-up, including notable keynotes and lectures from leading lights in the online game and virtual world biz, will be available in the near future and will be covered in full on Worlds In Motion.

Officials from Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) have announced that the company is to expand the closed beta testing for PlayStation Home this summer, in terms of both length and number of participants.

Home’s ambitious online community service has already been delayed from its originally intended late 2007 launch to spring 2008. At the time the earlier delay was explained by a desire to incorporate more user feedback and the difficulties of preparing a near simultaneous worldwide launch.

Details of the closed beta testing features, registration for the test and the opening of the service are yet to be announced by Sony. Open beta testing is now expected to begin until autumn 2008.

“We understand that we are asking PS3 and prospective PS3 users to wait a bit longer, but we have come to the conclusion that we need more time to refine the service to ensure a more focused gaming entertainment experience than what it is today," said Kazuo Hirai, president and group CEO at SCEI.

"Our overarching objective is to provide users with new gaming experiences that are available only on PlayStation Home. Spending more time on the development and on the closed beta testing reaffirms our commitment to bringing a quality service, maintaining the PlayStation tradition."

[The preceding article by originally appeared on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra.]

In its first quarter 2008 earnings call yesterday, toy company Mattel CEO and chairman Robert Eckert discussed, among other details, Mattel's BarbieGirls.com and the MMO's transition to a subscription-based model.

Originally intended as a vehicle to sell Mattel's Barbie Girl MP3 Player and promote the Barbie brand through other cross-marketing opportunities, the 'tween-targeted virtual world ran on a free-to-play, pay-for-goods model.

Though he declined to state any specific pricing for the new subscription model, Eckert acknowledged that the announcement will have to come soon: "Its one of those things where people are moving very quickly. I can tell you we will be competitive with our pricing but we don’t want to get out in front of it so that others can see it too soon. We’ve been studying it and I don’t think there’s going to be any big surprise in there for anybody."

When asked if he believed the business model transition and the phasing out of the Barbie Girls MP3 player would have a significant effect on Mattel's first and second quarter numbers, Eckert responded, "No, I think any impact will be minor."

South Korea-based developer and social networking operator Nurien Software has announced that it has secured $15 million in Series A funding to be used for accelerating the launch of its 3D social networking service platform and online game offerings.

Nurien plans to launch its platform and online offerings in China and Korea at the end of 2008, with its U.S. launch following early 2009. Using Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 game engine, the service platform allows users to create one-of-a-kind, lifelike avatars and 3D content.

Users can also interact with Nurien's social applications, including Mstar, a virtual dancing game; Runway, a fashion show application; and QuizStar, an online trivia game.

"Having the backing of first-tier marquee investors greatly validates the progress we have made over the last few years," said Taehoon Kim, co-founder of Nurien Software. "We are excited to partner with world class venture capital firms to build upon our vision of creating a revolutionary new way for people to express themselves, interact with friends, and play online."

In a recent presentation with Newsweek's Level Up, mobile gaming solution developer Vollee demonstrated its handset client by streaming Second Life with an adapted layout to a mobile phone.

Vollee is currently offering users the opportunity to try out its Second Life mobile experience themselves with a free, open beta. With the service, users will be able to look up friends, interact, and communicate online in Second Life.

Linden Lab business development manager Chris Mahoney commented when the service was first announced: “For Linden Lab, this represents an intuitive way to extend the reach and accessibility of the Second Life Grid platform. This is a great way for Second Life residents to stay connected to their friends, business and experiences in-world, wherever they are.”

Video from the demonstration can be viewed here.

Following last month's announcement that Linden Lab chief executive Philip Rosedale would be leaving his post to take over as chairman of the board, the Second Life developer has announced Mark Kingdon will take over as CEO starting May 15th.

Most recently, Kingdon served as CEO of online-oriented marketing firm Organic Inc., and has also worked for business incubator idealab! and professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Said Kingdon in a press release, "To me, the CEO role at Linden Lab combines perfectly my passions for art and design, business and technology."

Making a curious comment on the technical history of online worlds, the executive added, "Until Second Life, we experienced the digital world passively in two dimensions. By enabling users to create a rich and immersive virtual world, Second Life is transforming the way we connect, collaborate, learn and transact online."

Eagle-eyed Worlds In Motion readers may recall that we've previously taken Virtual Worlds Management to task for somewhat hyberbolic comments about the 'virtual worlds' business - with their last report on investment, in January 2008, suggesting that venture capital and media firms have invested some $425 million dollars in 15 different virtual worlds companies during Q4 of 2007.

As we pointed out at the time, a number of the investments only bordered abstractly on what is traditionally described as 'virtual worlds', actually going quite some way into the MMO, online, casual gaming and even in-game advertising space, leading some to look quizzically at the claims.

Well, the company has issued another report, on the first quarter of 2008, and their optimistic ways seem to be continuing, with a new report suggesting "that venture capital and media firms have invested more than $184 million dollars in 23 virtual worlds related companies during the first quarter of 2008."

Amusingly, this is significantly less than the Q4 2007 figure, and the justification appears to be that "$300 million of [the investment for] that period went to Zenimax Media, which we acknowledged might be considered more part of the game industry than the virtual worlds industry", according to commentary on Virtual Worlds News' site. Which brings up the question of why it was included in the first place under strict definitions of the phrase!

This time round, the $100 million investment by Temasek in Chinese company 9You is again suspect on the virtual worlds front - the firm has big holdings in casual and online games in China and we've previously covered them for online dancing and soccer games which are a world away from the traditional 'virtual world' definition.

There are also notably semi-offtopic investments such as IGA Worldwide - an ad network for games and online worlds, not a virtual world itself - listed in there, indicating a pretty high level of kitchen sink-style bundling.

Anyone would think that Virtual Worlds Management has a vested interest in hyping the 'virtual worlds' space by that name. There's no problem with acknowledging investments in the broad space, but why shoehorn it all under the 'virtual worlds' name when it clearly doesn't work?

In the meantime, we intend to cover the business of online worlds - all the way from subscription and microtransaction-based games to virtual worlds - in a sensible and non-hyperbolic way at Worlds In Motion.

Contrary to our report earlier this week that NASA Learning Technologies had cut its educational MMO budget, asking developers to create and maintain the game for free, NASA intends to offer a licensing agreement in which the developer would still make money from the MMO’s release.

While NASA will not be directly funding the MMO’s developer, its previously reported $3M budget will be used for its contributions to the project, including access to media assets, data, archives, and NASA “subject matter experts,” such as engineers and scientists.

“The developer gets to make money on the game... some of which (negotiable) goes to NASA” explained MMO Evolution author Robert Rice. “This isn’t any different than making a game based on a Hollywood license, except the developer will get better terms, more creative control, and probably some sweet technology out of the deal.”

Discrediting claims that NASA was seeking to compensate developers with brand placement opportunities, Rice continued: “The point about ‘negotiating brand placement’ was in regards to NASA’s logo. They have very specific and restrictive rules about how, where, and when the NASA logo is presented. Most large companies have similar rules, but NASA is really picky about it. The logo can’t be used in such a way as to imply that NASA endorses a particular product or political stance, or whatever. They were quite clear about their willingness to try to work around this a bit and make it work.”

Javien Digital Payment Solutions has announced a partnership with MMO customer service provider Game Center Group to offer Javien’s Total Commerce Solution to MMOs in need of subscription, billing, and virtual merchandise management.

San Diego-based Game Center Group provides game companies assistance on a range of issues, providing everything from technical and in-game support to helping streamline processes for quality assurance and agent/community management.

Javien’s Total Commerce Solution platform will allow Game Center Group to offer alternative payment methods including virtual tokens, and specialized accounts (parent-child sponsorships, prepaid wallets, etc.) to its customers, enabling the company to expand its offerings and billing model with micropayments.

Game Center Group’s clients include real money trading company Live Gamer and developer/publisher SouthPeak Games.

“Whether it’s putting the transaction piece into the game itself, setting up different billing methods or enabling various currency conversions, our customers find it difficult to accomplish it on their own – now we can tell them they don’t have to,” said Game Center Group IT manager Jeffrey Bard. “The best way to provide the support and service our customers needed for this was to partner with an expert. After an evaluation of possible e-commerce solutions, Javien’s technology was clearly the best – the most flexible in terms of billing options and the company’s deep experience with small transactions was critical as the industry is moving toward micropayments.”

Former Turbine Entertainment (Asheron’s Call, Lords of the Rings Online) president and CEO Jeff Anderson has raised $5 million in venture capital from New Enterprise Associates for his new company, Play Hard Sports.

Based in Foxborough, Massachusetts, Play Hard Sports will utilize its newfound funding to produce online sports games for casual fans, such as football, for release this fall.

Players will be able to create teams with persistent players who improve over time the more that they play. The games will be shorter than average football video games, and players will be able to fit one or two games into a lunch hour.

Play Hard Sports’ football games will feature ads, including video ads similar to the time-out, quarter-break, and half-time ads played for televised games.

"Play Hard is an exciting opportunity for sports fans of every age who are looking for something new to play," said Jeffrey Anderson. "Online games continue to change the way that people interact, and Play Hard is the newest evolution in sports. Our online games will free players from the couch, allowing them to play nearly whenever and wherever they want."

Shanghai-based online game operator The9 Limited has acquired a minority stake in Korean game developer G10 Entertainment with a cash investment of approximately $38 million.

G10 Entertainment specializes in community-based online games in South Korea with a heavy emphasis on social interaction. Its titles include Audition, a series of online casual dance games for the PC, currently played by over 300 million people in Japan, China, Southeast Asia, and Europe.

The9 manages the operation and distribution for several popular MMORPG titles, including Ragnarok Online 2 and World of Warcraft and its expansions, in mainland China. The9 will also be operating G10's Audition 2 in China.

Said G10 CEO Mr. Kee Young Kim: "We are very excited that The9 [is becoming] one of our key investors as we see this equity infusion as a recognition of G10's achievements in developing games and creating entertainment content. The9's outstanding game operation expertise will be a huge advantage in bringing G10's products to the growing Chinese online game market.”

He continued: “We also look forward to learning from The9's valuable experience gleaned from the day-to-day operation in the local market, and integrating the ideas and suggestions from The9 into our game development process. Our people and teams at G10 are empowered to continue delivering high-quality game products and providing our best support to Audition 2, our prize product to be operated by The9 in mainland China."

Berlin-based publisher Frogster Interactive has launched a “Free2Play” server for its nautical MMO, Bounty Bay Online, as an alternative to its existing subscription-based server.

Bounty Bay Online allows players to choose a career as a merchant, sailor, fisherman or pirate in a 15th century setting. Players can explore undiscovered continents, join guilds, and take control of cities to govern.

The Free2Play server features an integrated online shop with purchasable in-game items, such as potions, figureheads, treasure maps, and level boosts, selling from 3 cents upwards depending on their value. Frogster hopes the new server model will “allow players with limited playing time to achieve more in less time.”

Bounty Bay Online’s Free2Play server will not affect its established subscription server. Regular updates and support will be provided for both servers.

Portable avatar service WeeWorld has opened its API (application programming interface) for companies to expand their online offerings by integrating WeeMees into their sites.

WeeWorld’s portable and animated avatars, WeeMees, allow users to create customizable avatars, decorate their own visual space, send animated messages, play games, and interact with their online friends in many other ways.

Popular messaging platforms, such as AOL Instant Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, and Skype, have already partnered with WeeWorld to enable their users to create expressive avatars that animate while chatting. Users can change their WeeMees' outfits or expressions, and their Weemees’ appearance will update across all of the partner sites.

Other partners have already integrated WeeMees into their online services, such as USA Network with its USA Character Arcade. To date, 60% of its registered users have created a WeeMee.

"Today's consumers demand self-expression and personal communication throughout their online lives. As we build on the successes of our partner program, consumers will be able to use and access their WeeMees on more and more sites," said Lauren Bigelow, General Manager and SVP of Marketing, WeeWorld. "The opening of our API pushes WeeWorld's reach even further as WeeMees quickly become the avatars of choice for brands and service providers around the globe. In fact, more enhancements are already in the pipeline for our API to ensure our growing list of partners will be able to seamlessly personalize the experience on their sites."

Digital art community ShareCG.com and 3D software developer Altadyn have partnered to provide game developers, graphic artists, and animation enthusiasts tools to develop and share their virtual worlds online.

The partnership will allow users to create and populate virtual worlds with Altadyn’s Java-based 3DXplorer software and ShareCG’s library of user-contributed 3D models, artwork, textures, and other resources. These 3D environments have a variety of possible applications: real estate walk-through tours, online meetings, virtual tradeshows, and games.

Once a user has customized a virtual world, the creation can be posted onto ShareCG, where hundreds of thousands of visitors can explore and rate the world through their browsers.

Said Altadyn CEO Darius Lahoutifard, “ShareCG’s fast growing community is a valuable source of content for all 3DXPlorer users who can build unique Virtual Worlds and 3D websites by incorporating a variety of creative 3D models as well as other computer graphics elements available on ShareCG.com.”

Virtual world and online game Dizzywood announced today that it has earned the PRIVO Seal of Approval for providing one of the most safe and secure online environments for children.

The ‘tween-targeted edutainment community complies with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule’s (COPPA) high standards of regulations and has taken additional safety measures to implement the Privo's Privacy Assurance Program’s privacy requirements.

Privo is the first and only infomediary service to receive Federal Trade Commission recognition, and the posting of the Privo Privacy Assurance Program Seal signals to consumers, partners, advertisers, and the government that a particular site meets the COPPA guidelines.

"Safety has always come first and foremost in Dizzywood," said co-founder Sean Uberoi Kelly. "We have implemented a substantial number of technical safeguards for the web site. We have combined this with live real-time moderation by trained professionals to provide a safe and fun environment for kids."

Organizers behind the Solar Decathlon, a U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored competition to build the most compelling solar-powered house, hosted an event yesterday in virtual world Second Life allowing visitors to tour a virtual replica of a house designed to be powered entirely by the sun.

Solar Decathlon director Richard King presented slides of real-life solar-powered modular houses from last year’s competition at the Federal Virtual Worlds Expo before taking attendees through a Second Life re-creation of the 2007 Universidad Polytecnica de Madrid Solar Decathlon home.

Like the real structure it owes its design to, the virtual house was built to draw its power from solar panels absorbing heat and light from Second Life’s sun.

Former veterans from developers like Midway, Wolfpack and Ion Storm have revealed KingsIsle Entertainment, an Austin and Dallas based developer developing multiple MMO projects "under a cone of silence" for the past three years.

The company is led by CEO Elie Akilian, former head of communications software company Inet Technologies, with development headed by Todd Coleman, former developer on the MMO Shadowbane, and former iD and Ion Storm co-founder -- as well as Commander Keen, Rise of the Triad and Anachronox producer -- Tom Hall. The team also includes David Nichols, a former Midway Games veteran who most recently served as the publisher's Administration and Operations senior VP.

The MMO project currently helmed by Coleman is expected to go into beta this spring. KingsIsle offered no further details on the title or nature of the MMO. The same goes for a separate MMO project led by Hall, apart from saying the game would be "announced at a later date."

Said Elie Akiliann, "We founded KingsIsle with an approach that fosters ingenuity. Our focus is in the online environment and will continue to be so in the future. We've pulled together some of the most creative minds around and given them room to push boundaries and create superlative entertainment experiences. We'll continue to build on that base of originality."