Online world firm Trion World Network has revealed its first projects - including a Jon Von Caneghem-helmed fantasy themed MMO, and a Sci-Fi Channel co-developed online game to intertwine with a TV series, as the company becomes a licensed PS3 developer and publisher.

The firm, headed by EA veteran CEO Lars Buttler and Might & Magic creator and chief creative officer John Van Caneghem, will deliver games developed by both its internal studios and external partners via its Trion Platform, which is compatible with broadband-enabled PCs and PlayStation 3 systems.

Delivering what Trion calls "server-based games", the user will have a client which handles I/O and rendering, while content - which can be changed dynamically - is stored on servers and fed to the clients as needed.

Games will initially be delivered via download, retail, and other distribution methods -- with Buttler alluding to the possibility of free AOL-disc-like distribution methods for the client. Different "channels", which are essentially different game titles, will be maintained on Trion's server, and deliver that dynamic content to users depending on which "channel" they engage with.

The first newly announced game for the Trion Network platform is a currently-unnamed fantasy MMORPG developed under Van Caneghem in Trion's Redwood Shores, California studio.

No specific details about the game were revealed, but Trion's promises "battles of enormous scale will create epic moments that an unprecedented number of players can participate in." It will be published by Trion in both North America and Europe, and promises dynamic content -- a feature at the core of the Trion Platform experience.

MMORPG developer Cryptic Studios has appointed John Needham, former senior president of Business Development and Operations at Sony Online Entertainment, as its chief executive officer.

Needham began his career with Sony in 1994, holding positions in the television division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, including Director of Corporate Development and Vice President of Finance, Telemundo Networks.

After joining Sony Online Entertainment in 2001, Needham served as CFO and SVP of Business Development and Operations, managing strategic initiatives, international operations, customer service, and quality assurance testing.

Headquartered in Los Gatos, CA, Cryptic Studios is an independent, employee-owned company best known for its City of Heroes and City of Villains MMO titles, both of which have now been sold to publisher NCSoft, which is continuing them.

The studio announced in February Champions Online, a 3D MMORPG based on the pen-and-paper Champions RPG and slated for release in spring 2009.

Said Cryptic Studios president Michael Lewis: “John Needham's proven leadership in the MMO space makes him a dynamic fit for heading up Cryptic's new corporate direction. As an SVP of Sony Online Entertainment he has contributed greatly to the growth of the industry and we're excited to combine his operational experience with our vision for the future of online games.”

In anticipation of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Michigan State University professor Yong Zhao and MSU Confucius Institute have created Zon, an MMO aimed at teaching Mandarin Chinese and introducing Chinese culture to players, according to university paper MSU Today.

The browser-based virtual world allows players to visit markets, read newspapers, watch television, chat and trade with other players, and find jobs, all in China and with the added twist of using tools to understand the language and culture. Players can access quests and learning materials, including live Chinese tutors, while advancing through different stages of status in China, such as “tourists,” “residents,” and ultimately citizens.

Though Zon is currently free and available as an open beta, a monthly subscription fee is being considered for the MMO. Zhao believes the summer Olympics will generate interest for Zon from children around the world hoping to learn more about China.

Said MSU College of Education dean Carole Ames: “MSU, through our Confucius Institute, has been a leader in the increasing interest for instruction in Chinese language and culture by providing innovative programs that are accessible to people. This game boldly goes to another frontier in learning that has the potential, technologically, to reach our largest audience yet.”

Organizer Tandem Events has announced a special day-long addition to its July 29-31st Brighton, UK Develop Conference focusing specifically on online gaming, with representatives of Linden Labs, Jagex, Blitz Games and more set to headline sessions.

Tandem says the July 29th special conference will consist of "ten enlightening sessions and one inspirational keynote address" that will "address the real world – and virtual world - challenges and solutions facing online game developers globally."

Currently confirmed speakers include representatives from Guild Wars developer ArenaNet, EVE Online creator CCP, Second Life developer Linden Labs, RuneScape creator Jagex, and more.

The online session will be in addition to the Develop conference proper, which recently announced sessions from four Japanese developers behind recent Sony releases Patapon and Echochrome.

Said Tandem managing director Andy Lane, “Online gaming is booming in Europe... The creation of Develop Online recognises the increasing importance of the online gaming sector and addresses the technical issues currently faced by online developers, giving a unique opportunity for European developers to come together to share their insights for a day."

Publisher NHN USA, a subsidiary of Korean internet company NHN, has announced that it has secured the rights to publish the PC release of MMO first-person shooter Huxley in North America and Western Europe in late 2008. The title will arrive via gaming portal ijji.com. Details for publishing the Xbox 360 release were not revealed.

Developed by Seoul-based studio Webzen, Huxley combines the fast-paced gameplay of the first-person shooter genre with the character development of MMOs. The developer sold Huxley’s Chinese rights to MMO operator The9 for $35 million in February 2007.

NHN USA’s ijji.com portal claims over six million registered gamers. The site hosts a diverse selection of free-to-play online titles, each with optional micro-currency models offering purchasable in-game items. ijji.com currently hosts Gunbound Revolution, Drift City, and Soldier Front.

Said NHN USA CEO Whon Namkoong, “Huxley is one of the most anticipated online games currently in development, and we are very excited to bring the triple-A title to Western audiences. Huxley provides gamers with a unique and compelling experience that gamers everywhere are sure to enjoy. The revolutionary online shooter is a welcome addition to ijji.com, the site where millions of fans can play it later this year.”

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape.]

This week, our Online World Atlas looks at Gaia Online, from Gaia Interactive. Beginning as a link list for anime fans, Gaia Online has since expanded hugely to feature customizable avatars, an online world with user-owned homes, virtual currency and games, though its core is based around a huge forum, which averages a million posts a day according to some commentators.

Name: Gaia Online

Company: Gaia Interactive

Established: February 2003

How it Works: Gaia Online is experienced on the web through a combination of html, Flash, Java and Shockwave. It requires no installation. Navigation and gameplay are accomplished via mouse and keyboard input.

Overview: Gaia Online community originally solidified around it's forums, and the majority of Gaia Online users still spend most of their time there. However, the site has a massive range of other community options, with customizable avatars and home pages; an online world with towns full of user-owned homes that are just as customizable as the avatars; and games to play (with or against other members of the community).

Payment Method: Gaia Online is free to play, and earns revenue through microtransactions (users can purchase limited-edition items each month, and Gaia Cash), advertising/corporate sponsorship and licensed clothes and accessories.

Key Features:
- Unique avatar with a huge variety of dress-up options
- Customizable home and car for your avatar
- Full social network with a massive forum community
- Games to play with and against other community members
- Items can be bought, sold and traded within the community

Useful Links:
Gaiapedia
Gaia FAQ/Help
Gaia Forums

Hoping to attract players who’ve previously abandoned it MMOs, Sony Online Entertainment has launched a new initiative inviting former EverQuest and EverQuest II players to log back in to the games and play for free until the end of July. Titled Living Legacy, the new program will also feature in-game events, game updates, and more.

Though the free play period lasts only until July 31st, the promotion will run until the end of September. As part of the Living Legacy program, returning EverQuest players will receive the EverQuest Secrets of Faydwer all-in-one compilation and bonus in-game items at no additional cost, while returning EverQuest II players will receive the EverQuest II Rise of Kunark all-in-one compilation and bonus in-game items, also at no charge.

Current EverQuest II players who recruit a friend to play the game and to convert to a valid subscription will receive free gameplay-time added onto their current subscription. The Living Legacy initiative will also offer bonus XP weekends, several live events, new content updates and new zones in EverQuest II.

Sony Online Entertainment plans to support the program with an online and print advertising campaign featuring real EverQuest and EverQuest II players.

Said Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley: “The EverQuest franchise has touched so many lives since the launch of EverQuest in 1999, and with the 10th anniversary of EverQuest just around the corner, we felt it was the best time to give back to all the players who made it the cultural phenomenon it is today. We are grateful for the continued support from our legions of fans and are extremely excited about the groundswell of interest surrounding Living Legacy.”

Capcom and Nickelodeon virtual world division Neopets have announced a partnership to create Neopets Puzzle Adventure (working title), a new puzzle-adventure title for the Wii, DS, and PC.

Scheduled to ship for all three platforms this holiday season, Neopets Puzzle Adventure will be co-developed by Capcom and Infinite Interactive, the studio behind multi-platform hit Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords and other titles in the Warlords franchise.

The Neopets virtual world boasts over 44 million global memberships. Users can care for Petpets, virtual pets, as well as play games and interact with each other through various community features. Free registrations are available for the online world, but users can pay an optional monthly fee for an enhanced experience and premium content.

Neopets Puzzle Adventure’s puzzles will be based on classic board game Reversi, integrating more than 150 customizable Petpet creatures into the experience. Over 300 items, 150 quests and several mini-games, all based on the series’ Neopia setting, will round out the title. Players will also be able to earn codes by achieving certain goals, unlocking exclusive items on the Neopets site.

Said Capcom Entertainment’s senior vice president of licensing Germaine Gioia: “Capcom is working to expand the breadth of our catalog to gamers of all ages in North America and Neopets is a perfect brand for us to bring to casual and family gamers. Combining Capcom’s experience, the rich world of Neopets, and Infinite Interactive’s skills in the puzzle/adventure genre makes a perfect match.”

Mobile gaming solution developer Vollee has launched a free beta application allowing users to access Linden Lab 3D virtual world Second Life through their qualified 3G or Wi-Fi enabled handsets.

Vollee’s technology intelligently adapts applications for screen size and key layout, and then streams the original application to mobile devices. The developer's interactive video streaming platform optimizes compression to minimize bandwidth, allowing gamers to navigate 3D spaces.

After downloading Vollee's client to their handsets and logging in to their existing Second Life, users will be able to look up friends, interact, and communicate online with other avatars in the online world.

Said Linden Lab business development manager Christopher Mahoney, "Vollee offers the perfect Second Life mobile service that brings our virtual world to handsets in a way that is ideal for connecting our Residents. We look forward to the new and exciting ways people will be able to extend their Second Life experience through this new service.”

Following CEO Kaz Hirai promise to deliver Sony's PlayStation 3 social world, Home, "towards the end of the year," PlayStation Network senior director Susan Panico clarified that the service will launch as an "open, working beta," according to technology site Wired.

Previously, the virtual world was scheduled to open in late 2007 before Sony put off its launch to Spring 2008, citing "user feedback" for the delay. Sony later extended the delay again last month to Fall 2008, noting that the company needed to spend more time in development with Home. The service is currently under closed beta testing.

Speaking on Home's eventual public launch, Panico described the planned rollout as "similar to Gmail," Google's free webmail service. Presumably, much like Gmail, which has been in beta since its launch in April 2004, Home will receive content updates and additional features years after the virtual world debuts.

[In this exclusive editorial, Exit Games CEO and president Tom Sperry examines the incorporation of features from MMOs, a genre traditionally limited to PCs and home consoles, into mobile games, creating a mobile complement to the MMO experience.

Already, developers have selected Exit Games' Neutron platform to provide their users MMO content for their mobile phones, as is the case with Abandon and its upcoming virtual world, Freaky Creatures.]

Social networks are thriving, and Massive Multiplayer Online games (MMOs) are leading the way to an increasingly social and connected world. The leading MMO, World of Warcraft, recently surpassed 10 million players, all with a vested interest in the ever spinning fantasy land.

Such persistent worlds continue to pulsate even as the player is away from their PC, and the detached feeling that a gamer typically experiences signifies a void in service offerings. With current revenues in the billions, it’s a void that can be addressed with existing technology and know-how.

Some of the core features that these MMOs have in common include teams of players or “guilds”, text and voice chat, friends lists, auction houses, and even postal services. All of which are familiar territory to mobile technology providers that have experience leveraging different mediums to extend the game and its community.

These features can be applied to platforms beyond just PC-based MMOs and incorporated into games on the mobile phone, representing a huge opportunity to reach a true mass market of gamers.

Abandon Interactive Entertainment recently opened its Freaky Creatures beta registration sign-ups to the public, promising to launch the beta for its virtual pet community this summer, and we talked to President and COO Jamie Ottilie about the company's plans for the title, a cross-platform (both mobile and PC) MMO that requires users to purchase collectible figures with USB drives to begin playing.

Introduce us to Freaky Creatures.

Jamie Ottilie: Freaky Creatures is a cross-platform, massively multiplayer online game that allows players to build customizable creatures and battle them against friends. Players begin with a starter pack that features two collectable action figures and a flash drive that brings the creatures to life online. The initial creatures come with 50 different parts, 20 powers and 4 objects that can be placed into the creature’s lair. The variety of parts and powers will allow players to create more than 3 billion visual combinations. Players can battle other creatures via PC to PC or PC to mobile game play.

Following earlier rumors, Lord of the Rings Online developer Turbine has officially announced that it has raised $40 million led by GGV Capital and media company Time Warner, who made special note of "opportunities that exist with our own broad portfolio of IP."

Turbine's release also noted that GGV Capital is "a leader in expansion-stage venture capital investments in the U.S. and China." Additional investments came from existing Turbine investors Highland Capital Partners, Polaris Venture Partners, Tudor Ventures and Columbia Capital.

Time Warner Investments managing director and senior VP Rachel Lam said, "Our investment in Turbine is an important addition to Time Warner's entertainment initiatives. Online interactive entertainment is a huge growth market and we are very excited about Turbine, its unique capabilities and the obvious opportunities that exist with our own broad portfolio of IP."

Turbine’s catalog of subscription-based PC MMO titles include Asheron’s Call, Lord of the Rings Online, and Dungeons & Dragons Online. The company appointed former m-Qube COO Jim Crowley as its new CEO in a round of new executive hires in late 2007.

Said Turbine CEO Jim Crowley, "Turbine has an extraordinary team, incredible technology and a growing portfolio of games based on some of the most popular brands ever created. With this funding we are uniquely positioned to change the future of online entertainment as we bring new titles to market, expand the platforms we support and introduce new technologies to sustain self-evolving game worlds."

Virtual in-game currency marketplace Sparter has announced that it will no longer accept new purchase orders only a year after the company publicly launched its Gamer2Gamer trading platform. Sparter hopes to eventually reinvent itself by shifting its focus to providing develop and publisher-sponsored marketplaces.

Sparter's platform allowed gamers to trade virtual currency, keeping payments in escrow until bot sides approved the trasnfer. The company also provided reliability ratings based on actual transactional data and price charts showing market trends. Its supported MMOs included World of Warcraft, EVE Online, IMVU, MapleStory, and several others.

Though Sparter did not publicly explain its decision to cease operations, it's assumed that its closing was brought about by pressure from developers and publishers, seeing as most virtual worlds actively discourage, if not forbid outright, the buying, selling and trading of virtual money and goods, or any out-of-world RMT (real money transactions).

Said Sparter in a posted notice: "Going forward, we believe the best course for our business is to focus solely on providing marketplaces with the full support of game developers and publishers. To all of the members of the Sparter community, we thank you for your business and support. We continue to believe that open and efficient real-money trade of virtual goods benefits everyone in the gaming ecosystem, and we look forward to creating new solutions with our partners."

Berlin-based MMO developer and operator Metaversum has partnered with Bitfilm to create Bitropolis, a virtual art city in 3d online world Twinity in which users can attend a virtual version of the Bitfilm Digital Film Festival.

The festival, which is running from May 1st to July 12th, celebrates films which use digital technology in creative and innovative ways, such as 3D blockbusters, internet flash movies, machinima, or short clips for mobile devices.

Bitropolis will encompass a cinema, art gallery, night club, and bar, the last location allowing visitors to gather for virtual drinks after films. Filmmakers and 3D artists can rent their own "studio cube" and host special film screenings or other events. The studio cubes will be scattered throughout the Bitroplis cinema, which will be showing all of the nominated festival films.

Said Metaversum co-founder and chief marketing officer Dr. Mirko Caspar: “Bitropolis is a wonderful example of the vision that we are pursuing with the virtual world Twinity. Real events, such as the Bitfilm Festival in Stuttgart and Hamburg, are given a whole new dimension when they are transferred into a virtual world. We thus enable users from all around the world to take part in the festival and experience the best featured films,” comments Dr. Mirko Caspar, CMO of Metaversum GmbH.

France-based Ankama Studio has announced the closed beta launch of its upcoming tactical MMORPG, Wakfu. Scheduled to release in Q4 2008, this Java sequel to Flash-based MMORPG Dofus is entering its final development stage.

Wakfu allows players to create and customize characters to send into turn-based battles. Significant additions in the follow-up include the absence of non-player characters, a political system with appointed player-governors, and new customization options.

This first version of the Wakfu beta features only five of the twelve character classes. Players can register for a chance to be chosen for the beta on the game's official site. Closed beta access keys will also be distributed on partner websites where contests will be organized.

The beta follows Ankama's April announcement detailing a partnership with subsidiary and mobile entertainment provider Kalmeo to release DofusPocket this summer, a mobile version of Dofus. Ankama has had success merchandising the Dofus series and has produced two other spin-off properties, Dofus Arena and Wakfu.

With the recent launch of our new Worlds In Motion Job Board as a standalone board complete, complete with its own RSS feed and unique URL, every week, we will be higlighting the latest posted jobs relevant to our readership of professionals creating online worlds.

The listings cover a wide range of companies and open positions, so everyone seeking jobs in the MMO/online/virtual world industry should find the board useful.

- L5 Games (San Mateo, CA)
MMO Programmer / Senior
("Recently founded in San Mateo, CA, L5 Games is the primary development arm for Gravity Interactive, a subsidiary of Gravity Co. based in Seoul, South Korea. The company is comprised of game industry leaders who have been the heart and soul of creating many critically-acclaimed games world wide. L5 Games has a charter to bring current and new high-quality entertainment products to market.")

- Mattel, Inc. (El Segundo, CA)
Executive Producer, Virtual Worlds and Online Play
("Turbine Inc. is the largest privately-held online game studio in North America. Turbine is working on several massive franchises including Dungeons & Dragons and The Lord of the Rings. We are looking for a select group of talented individuals to join our team.")

- Octopi (Tucson, AZ)
Pixel Artist, Database Administrator, Texture Artist, Senior 3D Modeler, Senior Game Designer
("Octopi is the developer of PoxNora, a leading online collectible strategy game. We are growing our staff in order to expand the world of PoxNora, as well as begin production on several new exciting game titles. We offer a casual work environment, comprehensive benefits and competitive salary.")

- Turbine Inc. (Westwood, MA)
Senior Console Engineer - PS3 or XBOX 360, Senior Graphics Software Engineer
("Vivox is the premiere provider of voice services to online games and virtual worlds. Recently named the winner of the 2007 Game Developer Magazine Frontline Award for Best Audio Tool, Vivox delivers voice communications to some of the industry’s leading studios, including CCP Games, Linden Lab, NCsoft Corp., Sony Online Entertainment and Wizards of the Coast. Today, the Vivox Network supports millions of users in more than 180 countries.")

- Vivox, Inc. (Framingham, MA)
Community Manager
("Vivox is the premiere provider of voice services to online games and virtual worlds. Recently named the winner of the 2007 Game Developer Magazine Frontline Award for Best Audio Tool, Vivox delivers voice communications to some of the industry’s leading studios, including CCP Games, Linden Lab, NCsoft Corp., Sony Online Entertainment and Wizards of the Coast. Today, the Vivox Network supports millions of users in more than 180 countries.")

- Walt Disney Internet Group (Burbank, CA)
Lead Mobile Artist (mDisney), Software Engineer (mDisney)
("WDIG is an industry leader in online virtual worlds for kids and families, with offerings including Disney’s Club Penguin, Disney’s Toontown Online and the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean Online and Disney Fairies. Additionally, WDIG’s Disney Mobile phone service is the first comprehensive mobile phone service with applications specifically developed to meet the needs of kids and parents. WDIG, which is headquartered in North Hollywood, Calif., has operations in Asia-Pacific, Europe and across the Americas.")

As a reminder, once you've paid to post your job on Gamasutra, it's absolutely free to cross-post that job to any of Gamasutra's sister sites - including WorldsInMotion.biz!

Worlds In Motion will continue to highlight the online worlds-related jobs posted at our new standalone Worlds In Motion Job Board, every week.

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape.]

Gaia Online began as a linklist for anime fans, and has since expanded hugely to feature customizable avatars, an online world with user-owned homes, virtual currency and games. Its core is still based around a huge forum (which averages a million posts a day according to some commentators), but let's take a look at its MMO aspects.

Speaking as part of an in-depth Gamasutra analysis of subscriptions versus alternatives for the MMO/online game market, EA Mythic's Mark Jacobs has suggested that it's "very disingenuous when publishers talk about how many people are playing their game but won't talk about how much money they're making."

Jacobs is general manager and VP of the Electronic Arts-owned developer of subscription MMO Dark Age Of Camelot and the upcoming, similarly subscription-based Warhammer Online, and particularly notes on the subject of alternative revenue streams for online games:

"You know, everyone thinks it's just so cool to say that the subscription model is passé, that it's dead... They love to talk about their new models and how they are going to revolutionize the MMOG world. But MMOG publishers are spending a lot more on their games than anyone thought they'd be spending five years ago.

But if you're investing as much time and money as we are on our MMOGs, if you need to pay for the servers and the customer support, if you want to make a real profit on your game, subscriptions are the only way to go."

The Walt Disney Company is merging two of its divisions, the Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG), its digital media unit behind Disney.com and Club Penguin, and Disney Interactive Studios (DIS), its video gaming unit behind Nintendo DS online world DGamer, according to an internal memo sent by Disney CEO Bob Iger and posted by PaidContent.

The new unit, labeled Disney Interactive Media Group, will be led by WDIG president Steve Wadsworth and will have global responsibility for developing and distributing "all Disney-branded interactive digital media and entertainment for all digital interactive platforms." Existing management teams from both units will continue to opera in the combined group.

The move to merge the two divisions was attributed to the company's desire to create "a unified Disney-branded experience and community across all connected devices." Disney believes the integration of WDIG and DIS' activities comes at a timely point when console and handheld games are becoming more and more connected to the internet, and more users are looking to the internet and mobile devices for games and interactive entertainment.

Said Iger: "Digital media is a high priority for our company, and focusing all of our Disney-branded interactive digital media efforts in one group will ensure we are best positioned to maximize this emerging and dynamic opportunity. We have made fantastic progress through the efforts of Disney Internet Group and Disney Interactive Studios, and the combined organization will maximize the experience, expertise and talent of both groups across all platforms to be a world-class interactive digital media company."

In a report forecasting virtual world adoption, research and consulting firm Strategy Analytics has predicted that 22% of global broadband users will have registered for one or more virtual worlds, resulting in a one billion registrant market with an eight billion dollar services opportunity.

The study, "Market Forecasts for Virtual World Experiences," indicates that online worlds represent a massive activity growin in Asia, North and South America, and Europe. Though the report shows that most teens services, such as Sulake's Habbo Hotel, focus on attracting children and teens, Strategy Analytics noted that virtual worlds for adults are emerging as well.

Said Strategy Analytics president Harvey Cohen, "Despite a multitude of challenges, virtual worlds present a unique marketing opportunity to target a highly sought demographic, and virtual worlds should be part of a company's marketing portfolio."

In a strange interview with The Times Online, Electronic Arts label The Sims' president Nancy Smith discussed the company's plans to expand community features in The Sims games, hinting that an online element "could be of interest" to the series' fan base. She added that the game's producer would consider it, as they are "constantly exploring new kinds of content and experiences.

Of course, EA already launched the exact solution Smith claims that the studio will consider, The Sims Online, in 2002. The virtual world was rebranded as EA-Land and switched to a free-subscription model in February of this year, several months before Electronic Arts announced that it would be closing the community on August 1st, 2008.

Discussing another potential virtual world experience for The Sims, Smith hinted that the franchise would explore new revenue models, including sponsorship and selling virtual goods.

Smith also predicted that the label's future products would require players to buy and install software to play, contrary to online worlds played entirely through users' web browsers, such as Club Penguin and Habbo Hotel. She explained that the game's complex graphics and tools were too complicated to manage within a browser.

Said Smith: "Micro-transactions will be important, but I think people will continue to pay [a one-off fee] for client software. If you think about the hours of entertainment people get from interactive entertainment, you'll find that software is enormously well-priced. I don't think we're experiencing price ceilings just yet."

Silicon Valley-based online publisher Aeria Games has launched its closed beta for free-to-play game Stone Age 2, a "relaxed MMORPG" targeted at Kids.

Set in prehistoric times, Stone Age 2 allows players to roam dungeons and deserts, decorate personal home dens, form guilds, capture cute dinosaur pets, and raise the dinosaurs to fight primeval threats. Players can duel with other gamers and their creatures by building up their team with a combination of over 200 dinosaur species.

As with Aeria's other free-to-play titles, Stone Age 2 will like feature an optional, in-game store which offers custom outfits and other goods in exchange for Aeria points, the publisher's purchasable currency for all of its free-to-play MMOGs.

Ad agency Tribal DDB CEO Matt Freeman has resigned from his Omnicom Group position to work as CEO at online ad network GoFish, according to advertising news site Ad Week. Paul Gunning, formerly president of Tribal DDB East, who take over Freeman's position as CEO of Tribal DDB.

Based in San Francisco, GoFish is the exclusive brand advertising partner for its network of youth-focused sites, including WeeWorld, Magi-Nation: Battle for the Moonlands, Whyville, and other properties targeting the six- to seventeen-year-old demographic and their co-viewing parents. The company launched its youth-targeted online media network in February and signed several new publishers in Q1 2008, now boasting 66 million users per month for its network.

Handpicked to head the Omnicom Group's digital arm, Freeman helped build Tribal DDB Worldwide towards a 40% annual growth rate. The company's clients include Pepsi, Johnson & Johnson, and McDonald's.

Said Freeman: "What attracted me to [GoFish] is I saw all the other ad networks are chasing CPC and direct-marketing dollars. Their average user engagement is five times [that of] the other ad networks. I saw an opportunity for an ad net that focuses on brand advertising."

Publisher Funcom has announced that Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures has shipped over one million copies after less than three weeks since the PC game's debut in the U.S. and Europe, marking its launch as "the biggest MMO launch since World of Warcraft."

This announcement follows Funcom's recent first quarter financial results, which made it clear that future profits depended almost entirely on the game’s successful launch and long term success.

Since Age of Conan's release, the game has topped sales charts across the western world, including the U.S., Germany, France, and the UK. To meet demand, Funcom's retail partner is now re-supplying retail boxes rapidly while also sending units to new markets.

In the U.S., Age of Conan has has already passed its 500,000 shipped mark. FunCom claims that over 8 million unique visitors from over 200 countries have visited its Age of Conan websites so far in 2008. Already, 800,00 members have signed up for its official Clan of Conan fan club.

Said Funcom's Sales and Marketing vice president Morten Larssen: “Sales data shows that Age of Conan is the biggest MMO launch since World of Warcraft. The numbers are very promising, and we are very proud to be one of the fastest selling PC games ever in a launch month and the biggest simultaneous Europe/US MMO launch in history.”

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape. You can view Part 1 of our investigation here, and Part 2 here.]

First a linklist for anime fans, now a social network and MMO with a massive community – Gaia Online has come a long way across its history, but has it been for the best? Our conclusions after the jump.

With the 2008 Austin Game Developers Conference coming this September 15-17 and registrations now open for the Austin, Texas event - which includes both 'Online Gaming' tracks and a special Worlds In Motion Summit for businesspeople and brands looking to get into virtual worlds, it's time to continue highlighting a few of the already-announced lectures:

- This time round, we can confirm the first - and very neat - keynote for the Worlds In Motion Summit at Austin: Dunder Mifflin Infinity: A Case Study in Using Game Mechanics to Drive Community Behavior. NBC.com's SVP of Digital Development and general manager Stephen Andrade joins Bunchball CEO Rajat Paharia to discuss their success driving user behavior and increasing engagement with Dunder Mifflin Infinity, NBC's a social networking and user-generated content site for fans of TV show The Office. This is the kind of differentiated business-specific content we're providing for WiM that should make it very worthwhile.

- Elsewhere in the Online track at AGDC, Rebel Monkey president and co-founder Nick Fortugno (the co-creator of Diner Dash) is holding a valuable session on design strategies gleaned from successful casual MMOs and how they can be applied to all kinds of online games. The talk, titled What Your Mother and Your Ten-Year Old Can Teach You About MMOs, is intended for anyone looking to expand their online game's reach to less hardcore, less game savvy players and make their games more accessible.

- On the more technical end, NCSoft client technology lead Rusty Koonce will present Postmortem: Deferred Shading in Tabula Rasa as part of the Online track, an in-depth look at deferred shading in an MMO client, using MMORPG Tabula Rasa as a reference. The lecture will cover a wide range of lessons useful to programmers and technical directors, including cost and benefits, implementation details, and performance/scalability/compatibility.

For more information, including a number of other key already debuted lectures that we'll be highlighting weekly here on WorldsInMotion.biz, alongside further new Worlds In Motion Summit/online keynote specifics as they happen, check out the official Austin GDC 2008 website.

[In a pointed analysis piece, Joe Ludwig, producer at Pirates Of The Burning Sea developer Flying Lab Software, examines the barriers that make creating console MMOs more difficult than PC MMOs, from platform holders through certification and control devices and beyond.]

A few weeks ago, Dan Rubenfield posted this (as part of a larger rant putting all MMO developers on notice):

"If you continue to refuse to acknowledge consoles as the de-facto standard for AAA gaming, you will go out of business.

Quit making PC games. It’s a waste of time and money."

(NPD respectfully disagrees with the waste of money part.)

I for one would love to build a console MMO. It's not that MMO developers don't acknowledge consoles as dominant, it's that there are many barriers to building a console MMO that don't exist on the PC. I mentioned a couple of those in my comment to the post above, but wanted to expand on them here.

Barrier #1: Platform Holders Demand a Share

Assuming a moderate success, MMOs are almost unique in their ability to give game developers a revenue stream. Most studios live from milestone payment to milestone payment and rarely see royalties off the game after it ships. If they're smart, they make a little extra on each milestone and can build a buffer to help them tough it out between projects, but often failing to sign with a publisher for the next project drives the developer out of business. With a few very successful exceptions, just about all studios live on this edge.

Following its promise to offer competitive subscription pricing to its BarbieGirls.com virtual world, toy company Mattel has launched Barbie Girls V.I.P., a subscription-based version of its 'tween-targeted MMO.

Originally intended as a vehicle to sell Mattel's Barbie Girl MP3 Player and promote the Barbie brand through other cross-marketing opportunities, BarbieGirls.com has been running on a free-to-play, pay-for-goods model. According to Mattel, its MMO has collected nearly 13 million registered users.

Barbie Girls V.I.P. boasts a world four times larger than its original size with new locations, games, and experiences. Users can access the service with a $5.99 monthly membership. Users who choose to not to pay the membership cost will still be able to play with the basic version of BarbieGirls.com.

Said Mattel Brands' Girls Division general manager and senior vice president Chuck Scothon: "The success of Barbie Girls – particularly among older girls, with 85 percent of our registered users over age eight – demonstrates that girls are looking for a new way to play with the brand they love and grew up with, just in a new format relevant to today’s tech-savvy girls. With the launch of Barbie Girls V.I.P. we’re giving girls more content than ever before, including the best fashion, beauty and social play, as well as many new games and an expanded Barbie Girls world. Online content is simply just a new toy, and we believe our quality content is well-valued with this new version of Barbie Girls V.I.P.”

Shanghai-based online game operator The9 Limited has appointed former Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu senior auditor George Lai as its new Chief Financial Officer, effective July 3rd, 2008. Lai will take over current CFO Tony Tse's position as he resigns due to personal and family reasons.

Lai served in several positions at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu's Hong Kong, New York, and Beijing offices since he began working at the company in 2000, including audit manager and senior audit manager. Lai played key roles in numerous IPO projects in the United States and China.

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. Most recently, the company invested $38 million in G10 Entertainment, the Korean developer behind Audition 2, an MMO dancing game which The9 plans to operate in China.

Said The9 CEO and chairman Jun Zhu, "Although we are sorry to see Tony's departure due to personal and family reasons, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to his hard work during his serving period at The9, especially his contribution to the company's Form 20-F filing process."

Zhu continued: "In addition, we are very pleased to welcome George on board as our new Chief Financial Officer. George has extensive knowledge in US GAAP and solid background in dealing with public company issues, especially in the fast booming internet industries, and we believe he will fully utilize these knowledge and skill-sets to perform the important managerial role of Chief Financial Officer at The9."

Chicago-based publiser Interzone Futebol, a PC MMOG scheduled to release in Q4 2008. The game will first release in Portuguese for the Brazilian market before, closely followed by international versions for an eventual worldwide release.

In Interzone Futebol, every customizable character on the field will be controlled by a different player, including goalkeepers. During matches, players can improve skills, as well as unlock new skills and moves. Players can improve personal rankings and team rankings, earn money through salary or sponsorship, and buy virtual items from Interzone’s online store.

Interzone Futebol will feature a social space for players to explore, socialize in, and find other people to play with. The MMO will also have an invitation system allowing players to invite friends into matches and to try the game.

Said Interzone Entertainment Marty Brickey on Interzone Futebol's Latin America priority: “Of 17 World Cup championships, 11 have been won by South American nations, with Brazil winning a record five World Cup titles. Soccer is a passion in Brazil, with perhaps 15 million players, a very high percentage of whom are in the 18-34 demographic, making it an ideal initial market for our game. We decided first to create Interzone Futebol in Portuguese so it will have the broadest appeal to this very large Portuguese speaking market in Brazil.”

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape.]

We're looking at There this week, a social MMO from Makena Technologies. Generally considered to be one a competitor of Second Life, there has a similar mix of shopping, exploration, play and socialization, with a lot of the world shaped by users creating their own homes and objects.

Name: There

Company: Makena Technologies

Established: October 2003

How it Works: There requires the download and installation of a 94mb client. Navigation and gameplay are accomplished via mouse and keyboard input.

Overview: There is an online virtual world with a 3D client. Similar to Second Life, the world consists of several islands upon which users can explore and socialize. Users can create items using several provided tools (StyleMaker, Painter ToolKit and Builder ToolKit) though it takes time and costs money to have these placed in the world (through a submissions process) though from that point on users are able to sell these items freely to other players, receiving "Therebucks" in return -- which can be exchanged for US dollars in the world's banks.

Payment Method: There is free to play, though there are premium memberships on offer for one-time fees of $9.95. The world generally earns revenue through microtransactions (users can purchase Therebucks, and must pay to create items), and licensing.

Key Features:
- Large "Second Life" style world
- User generated objects to purchase and interact with

Useful Links:
ThereCare (official info site)
There Fun Times (official blog)
The Voice of There (news site)

Think Services has announced the launch of GamerBytes, a new weblog specifically providing information, interviews and analysis for digital downloaded console games - from Xbox Live Arcade through PlayStation Network to WiiWare.

Why? With the swift rise of digital downloaded content for the major consoles, there's a major hole in centrally located information for shortplay, innovative independently-developed titles - such as Penny Arcade Adventures, N+ and LostWinds. GamerBytes plans to offer daily updated news on the state of gaming for the three major console services - each of which has its own section on the site.

Editor Ryan Langley has folded his popular XBLAH.net site into GamerBytes, and will now collate breaking news, rating information, low-profile publicity on all three consoles. He will also ramp up the exclusive content - such as his recent quizzing of XBLA developers on the delisting changes.

GamerBytes will also include the latest jobs from the market-leading Gamasutra Jobs network, with a site-specific feed available soon, and will cross-pollinate information with relevant sister sites such as Think Services' IndieGames.com blog, as well as related events such as the Independent Games Summit at GDC.

The GamerBytes site is now officially open, and there's a full-feed RSS available for those interested in subscribing to the news feed.

Virtual worlds ad agency Millions of Us has announced the launch of a new company, Virtual Greats, to take advantage of the growing virtual goods market, according to a report by Hollywood trade magazine Variety.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, Virtual Greats seeks to sell hair styles, catchphrases, dance moves, clothing lines and other merchandise associated with aspirational characters and entertainment franchises over multiple virtual world and social media platforms.

With its debut, Virtual Greats also has announced distribution rights for virtual goods associated with Justin Timberlake, Elvis Presley, Tila Tequila, Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, Raven Symone, and The Incredible Hulk, across multiple media platforms. The company has also entered its first major venture with virtual world Gaia Online. Virtual Greats hopes to connect Gaia’s 5+ million users with its virtual goods.

Virtual Greats' entrance follows recent estimates from Charles River Ventures analyst Susan Wu predicting a virtual goods market growing in worth to $1.5 billion, based on Gartner Inc.'s research showing that 80% of internet users will have avatars by 2012.

Said Millions of Us CEO Reuben Steiger: The inspiration for Virtual Greats came when I realized that this was a $1.5 billion market without any high-value copyrighted material. Defining the market and acquiring these rights and distribution has been enormously rewarding.”

Venture capital firm Lightspeed has posted Average Revenue Per User (or per avatar in some cases) statistics on popular MMOGs based on previously reported data. The firm found that popular virtual worlds were able to generate an average $1.25 per monthly user per month:

Club Penguin: $1.62/monthly user/month
Habbo Hotel: $1.30/monthly user/month
Runescape: $0.84/monthly user/month

These estimates were created by dividing each virtual world's reported revenue by the amount of active users on the virtual world.

Lightspeed went on to note that Second Life is monetizing at 5x higher than other casual MMOGs, taking into account revenue from land maintenance fees. The firm estimates that the virtual world averages around $9.30 per account per month, in line with "some of the more hardcore free-to-play MMOGs that companies such as Acclaim, Aeria, OutSpark, K2 Networks and IGG are importing."

Voice communication service company Vivox has announced that MMO developer CyberSports, Ltd. has chosen the company's voice chat suits for its forthcoming online soccer title Football Superstars.

Originally announcing a summer release for the free-to-play PC MMOG, Cybersports later revised its schedule to release Football SuperStars in late 2008. Vivox says the game covers both on- and off-field interactions with other players in its virtual world, and the company plans to expand the series to other sports.

The game will use Vivox chat for what it refers to as "strategy, taunts, and heated exchanges" of sports play, and will "manage the voice application to ensure operational scale and stability and to eliminate game server impact" with "3D voice chat, players have access to voice fonts, buddy lists, presence alerts, voice mail, SMS, and user management tools."

Said CyberSports CEO Malcolm Clark, “Our design goals and user experience requirements for Football Superstars demanded the most stable, scalable and user friendly voice technology available. Vivox was the obvious choice based on their proven performance and operations experience."

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

In an announcement at the International Licensing Expo predicting a record $30+ billion in global retail sales for fiscal 2008, Disney revealed that its virtual world based on the Cars franchise will be available next year.

In addition to forecasting $2.7 billion in merchandising sales for its 'tween franchises, Disney expects its DCP (Disney Consumer Products) girls franchises to reach the $5 billion mark, aided by DisneyFairies.com, which claims nearly 6 million user-created fairy avatars, as well as upcoming virtual world Pixie Hollow and Nintendo DS Dgamer title Disney Fairies: Tinker Bell.

Disney and Pixar's Cars franchise is on track to generate a projected $2.5 billion in global retail sales of licensed merchandise. The Cars virtual world will offer players a chance to create their own car avatar and interact with Lightning McQueen and other characters from the film.

Said Disney Consumer Products chairman Andy Mooney "It’s the Disney difference that accounts for this unprecedented growth fueled by unmatched content and rich franchises nurtured across The Walt Disney Company. In just five years, retail sales of Disney products have doubled and we have diversified our portfolio of brands with smash hits like High School Musical, evergreens like Disney Princess, and expanding franchises in Disney and Pixar’s Cars and Disney Fairies. Our product offerings now reach all ages. Simply put, there is no better time to be aligned with Disney.”

San Francisco-based developer Vivaty has rolled out its first public release for its Vivaty Scenes embeddable 3D spaces product, a mini-application module for AOL Instant Messenger's 6.8 update.

Currently in closed beta, Vivaty Scenes utilizes Vivaty's 3D spaces platform, offering a Facebook application for delivering 3D virtual spaces through web browsers. Users can customize their characters and space, adding online media, such as YouTube videos or Flickr feeds. They can then send the space's URL to invite a friend into the browser-based world.

Users can try out the mini-application by downloading the latest AOL Instant Messenger update and clicking the "Get More" link in the client'sPlug-In Manager. Vivaty's module is available under the "Featured Developers" section.

Said Vivaty's CEO, co-founder, and president Keith McCurdy: "The experience in AIM really gets us closer to our goal: more visually rich, engaging, immersive, and highly personalized experiences on the distributed web. We are not trying to re-invent the social graph, asking users to import their friends’ addresses again and again. Instead we want to embed Vivaty where web users already have friends, then make those experiences with friends more engaging and fun."

Weblin isn't exactly a virtual world. It's a personal avatar system that allows what Weblin have dubbed "social browsing" -- Users can see other users as they browse the web, and can interact with them by chatting or other expression.

A lite version was recently launched to allow uses to "quickly help users understand and appreciate Weblin" and we talk to GM of Weblin USA Marc Theermann about the system, including privacy issues, monetization and future interaction with virtual worlds.

Where did the concept of Weblin originate?

Marc Theermann: In 1996, Dr. Heiner Wolf, Weblin’s founder led a European Union research project. The aim of the project was to bring scientists from all over the world together, who work on the same subjects. His idea was based on a scene in a library: people who meet in the same row are mostly looking for the same topics. They can see each other and therefore they can communicate with each other. He projected this scenario to the Internet, and came to the conclusion that people who visit the same websites are mostly interested in the same topics and therefore they should see each other. Several years later he developed the avatar approach, which laid the foundation for the current company.

With the recent launch of our new Worlds In Motion Job Board as a standalone board complete, complete with its own RSS feed and unique URL, every week, we will be higlighting the latest posted jobs relevant to our readership of professionals creating online worlds.

The listings cover a wide range of companies and open positions, so everyone seeking jobs in the MMO/online/virtual world industry should find the board useful.

- ArenaNet (Bellevue, WA)
Community Manager
("ArenaNet, located in Bellevue, WA, is a wholly owned subsidiary of NCsoft Corporation and is the creator of the block-buster RPG, Guild Wars. ArenaNet has built a state-of-the-art, interactive game network and develops premier multiplayer online games for dedicated game players.")

- Disney VR Studio (North Hollywood, CA)
Quest Designer/Writer)
("The VR Studio is Disney's Center of Excellence in real-time graphics and interactive entertainment. The studio is currently focused on the continued development of Toontown Online as well as development of their new MMP, Pirates of the Caribbean.")

- ProductCore, Inc. (San Francisco, CA)
Quest Designer/Writer)
("ProductCore is a San Francisco-based, venture-funded stealth startup building a next-generation MMO for kids. We are seeking a creative writer with game design experience to help shape the backstory and quest designs for our forthcoming service.")

- Realtime Worlds Ltd. (Boulder, CO)
Director of Development, Marketing Manager, Vice President of Online Operations
("We are developing revolutionary new software technology, which will have widespread applications throughout many industries. As avid game players, we believe the future of video games lies in massively multiplayer on-line gaming. Constantly evolving worlds with real players and communities offer an unrivalled experience that many players have yet to enjoy. We have an innovative concept and unique technology that will deliver new possibilities to massively multiplayer on-line gaming.")

- Spin Master Ltd. (Los Angeles, CA)
Art Director
("Reporting to the Executive Producer, the Art Director will supervise the art team mid-project and lead the project to completion by managing team goals, setting priorities and providing day-to-day support. ")

As a reminder, once you've paid to post your job on Gamasutra, it's absolutely free to cross-post that job to any of Gamasutra's sister sites - including WorldsInMotion.biz!

Worlds In Motion will continue to highlight the online worlds-related jobs posted at our new standalone Worlds In Motion Job Board, every week.

According to organizers, September 16-17, 2008 will mark the return of the Think Services-created Worlds in Motion Summit, taking place at the Austin Game Developers Conference in the Austin Convention Center.

The event, which saw its successful debut at the Game Developers Conference 2008 in San Francisco this past spring, will map the broadening of the worldwide business market through the expansive and growing social game networking space.

The Worlds in Motion Summit, presented by Gamasutra sister weblog WorldsinMotion.biz, is of particular value to those looking to successfully leverage their content and brands into interactive online worlds.

For the first confirmed keynote, Stephen Andrade, Senior Vice President, Digital Development and General Manager, NBC.com will be joined by Rajat Paharia, Founder and CEO of Bunchball in a first-of-its-kind presentation, titled “Dunder Mifflin Infinity: A Case Study in Using Game Mechanics to Drive Community Behavior.”

Participants will hear how Bunchball’s Nitro meta-gaming platform is being used to drive user behavior and increase engagement on Dunder Mifflin Infinity, a social networking and user-generated content site for fans of NBC’s hit TV show, The Office.

Additional confirmed speakers for the upcoming Worlds in Motion Summit include:

- James M. Bower - Founder of Whyville parent company Numedeon.

- Teemu Huuhtanen - President, North America of Sulake Inc, creators of popular online world Habbo.

- Jonathan Epstein - CEO of in-game ad firm Double Fusion, who will be presenting alongside Huuhtanen on placing ads in Habbo.

The conference will examine the results that both independent start-ups and established Fortune 500 companies can derive from actively participating in the virtual world space. The Worlds in Motion Summit will map the intersection of games, business and entertainment in virtual worlds, and provide a look into where these virtual worlds are headed.

Beyond traditional notions of linear gameplay experiences, the Worlds in Motion Summit will delve into the increasing socialization of games and online worlds, and the integration of personalization and player-generated content into gameplay.

Additional information on the event and confirmed speakers can be found at Austin GDC's Worlds in Motion Summit page.

Officials from massively multiplayer online (MMO) games developer Turbine have confirmed that the company is currently developing one or more console titles.

Speaking initially to website MMORPG.com, Turbine president and CEO Jim Crowley confirmed that the company is currently “investigating” the creation of cross-platform games, despite the company remaining dedicated to the PC platform.

A subsequent clarification of the company’s position came in a short statement to consumer weblog Kotaku, to whom Turbine communications director Adam Mersky confirmed that the company is “actively developing a title for console”.

"We've hired over 60 people since the beginning of the year," said Mersky. "The people that invested in us, Time Warner... one of the media giants, getting into the MMO fold, and that's obviously a big deal. They also have a huge distribution network... that may bear fruit for us."

As recently reported, venture capital firm GGV Capital and media giant Time Warner invested $40 million in the company, with the latter making reference to “opportunities that exist with our own broad portfolio of IP."

The lack of prominent MMOs on consoles has been increasingly commented on by analysts and industry experts in recent months, including an analysis of the problems involved by Pirates of the Burning Sea developer Joe Ludwig for Gamasutra.

Seattle-based publisher Hidden City has announced the Bella Sara Magical Friends set, a 123-card expansion for its Bella Sara virtual world and trading card series.

The Bella Sara Magical Friends set marks the sixth release for the online horse stable's collectible card series. Bella Sara claims to have amassed more than 2.5 million registered users and offers games, puzzles, coloring pages, storybooks, and customizable cottages at its site.

As with Bella Sara's previous cards, players can buy card packs and activate Magical Friends cards for new horses, nurturing them at Bella Sara's virtual world. Card packs contains 7 different cards each and can be bought at retailers such as Blockbuster, Target, Toys ‘R’ Us and Wal-Mart.

Said Hidden City Games CEO Peter D. Adkison: “Bella Sara Magical Friends celebrates the powerful connections of friendship by pairing each new horse with a whimsical, lifelong companion. We invite Bella Sara fans and kids everywhere to meet these new characters and explore the rich and growing fantasy land of North of North."

MMOABC, an MMO social network and New Gen Media property, has partnered with online game developer Gameforge to offer Gameforge's free-to-play MMO browser games through MMOABC's portal.

Based in Germany (with a recently opened office in San Francisco), Gameforge claims more than 52 million registered users and over nine million active players for its browser- and client-based games. So far, the studio has announced that it will bring BattleKnight, Bitefight, DarkPirates, Gladiatus, Ikariam, OGame, and WarpFire to MMOABC's platform.

MMOABC provides game portal hosting services and online game publishing for developers in the MMO market. In addition to its hosted online games, MMOABC offers social networking, guild hosting, and other community features.

Said MMOABC co-founder and CEO Andy Tong: “MMOABC is very excited to partner with Gameforge to offer free high quality MMO browser games to our rapidly growing gaming audience. Offering proven games with over 50 million registered members to our gaming community is another step in empowering our gamers.”

Having just come out of stealth mode last April, developer KingIsle entertainment has launched the closed beta for its teen and 'tween-targeted, magic-themed virtual world, Wizard101.

Wizard101 allows users to customize outfits and accessories for their wizard characters, play puzzles and mini-games, adopt magical pets, and learn from seven different schools of magic. Players will also be able to engage in collect cards and engage in card duels alongside and against other players.

Testers who've signed up for the beta at Wizard101's official site and who've been selected for the beta are invited to play the game and provide feedback in advance of its official release in Q3 2008.

To create their Wizard101 characters, players take a quiz to determine which of Ravenwood's seven schools of magic best suits their personality. Afterwards, players will be able to adventure through the 3D game's environments and scenarios, upgrading their costume and accessories, adopting magical pets, solving puzzles, and making friends.

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape.]

We're sure There fans would hate us for the comparison, but There is a social MMO from Makena Technologies that is easiest to understand if you compare it to Second Life, as it's a social world with shopping, exploration and play that features user-generated content. We take a look in-depth after the jump.

The Walt Disney Internet Group has revealed that it intends to hire a team by August to manage its Club Penguin operations in Sydney in response to the kid-targeted virtual world's popularity in Australia, according to a report from Australian news site News.com.au.

Though Club Penguin hasn't yet been incorporated to Disney's gaming site for Australia, user numbers on Disney.com.au have doubled to 800,000 since traditional online games based on Disney animated movies and characters were added last year. The company expects that Club Penguin's popularity in Australia, even without Disney.com.au's backing, will continue to surge.

Said Duncan Orrell-Jones, head of the Walt Disney Internet Group for Asia Pacific: "Gaming is a very important aspect of our audience's experience online and in Australia the game activity online is quite strong. In short, what we have is an entertainment destination... and within that we'll be distributing the sort of deeper, richer experiences of virtual worlds."

Puma has partnered with CyberSports to incorporate its sportswear products and branding into upcoming soccer MMOG Football Superstars, according to a report from UK advertising news site Brand Republic.

Due for late 2008, Football Superstars is a virtual world for football fans seeking to live a "top footballer's lifestyle." Football SuperStars enables players to recreate themselves as persistent footballer avatars and play matches in 3, 5, 7, and 11-man teams. All players on the pitch, with the exception of goalkeepers, are controlled by humans, giving both teams freedom to develop their own strategies and play styles.

With the deal, players in the MMO will be able to explore a virtual version of Puma's Carnaby Street concept store in London to purchase branded clothes and buy Puma's v.108 Speed Boot for their avatars.

Football Superstars will also have a branded virtual training academy where players can train their characters. In addition to featuring Puma footballs, Puma pitch side advertising hoardings, a Puma pitch logo, and a video wall, both the Academy's trainer and the players will be wearing Puma uniforms.

Said Cybersports business development head Andy Law: "We are delighted to be working with a globally recognised football brand such as Puma. They are leading the way by providing footballers with everything they need to succeed on the pitch and now they will be doing the same on the virtual pitches of Football Superstars. With a brand like Puma interactively involved we further blur the divide between reality and our virtual world."

Organizers for the Visual Web Convention, a two-day London conference (July 9 - 10) encompassing four industry and entertainment-related events, have announced that VastPark CEO Bruce Joy will deliver a keynote at the convention's Virtual Worlds & MMOs summit.

Based in Australia, VastPark is a developer of virtual world platforms, offering tools for creating virtual worlds which can be shared, monetized, and remixed by users, developers, and corporates. Joy will lead a discussion on the opportunity and direction of virtual worlds and the visual web for the next 6-12 months.

Other speakers scheduled for the convention include Lord David Puttnam and representatives from developers, such as CCP Games, Codemasters and Avaloop, as well as representatives from leading media developers and brand agencies.

Space trading and combat-based PC MMO EVE Online has just passed its fifth anniversary, with that rarest of things for an online subscription game, year on year growth - with 220,000 active subscribers as of the end of 2007.

The game's Executive Producer Nathan Richardsson joined developer CCP in 2004 when they were "were just about 30 people in Reykjavik" – the studio now has 350 people, with additional offices in Atlanta and Shanghai, and 50 more people expected to be added by the end of 2008.

In this wide-ranging interview with Worlds In Motion, Richardsson looks at EVE's progress to date, gameplay comparisons with starkly different market leader World Of Warcraft, the lack of female players in the game, and much more.

What is it that makes EVE Online specifically different from your average MMO?

Nathan Richardsson: We believe that EVE has some fundamental foundations that differentiate it from other games. First and foremost is the single-shard world where everyone is part of the same universe. This enables a player-driven economy because we achieve the world scale required to make it effective.

In turn, the economy is the foundation for all interaction -- well, mostly for conflict -- but let’s call it interaction. You need players to gather and defend resources, to process them and manufacture ships and weapons out of them which are in high demand on the market since it’s so costly to defend the resources.

With such a large world, very large player organizations can flourish -- EVE has as many as 3,000 pilots in some organizations working towards common goals against other organizations of the same scale.

There's an intense political atmosphere and social networks are an important part of the game -- EVE is free-form, you set your own goals and it’s “class”-less too.

Interactive and creative production studio Animax Entertainment has announced that it has appointed Sabri Sansoy, former vice president of interactive entertainment technology at Game Show Network (GSN), as its Chief Technology Officer.

In addition to managing original game development and publishing at Animax, Sansory will lead the company’s development of next-generation MMOs and virtual worlds. Animax cites Sansoy’s background in designing, developing, deploying, and maintaining convergent media experiences as important points for his position.

At GSN, Sansoy led a cross-functional team of domestic and offshore employees in the research and development of innovative technologies to support multiplatform initiatives. During his tenure, his team was nominated four times for an Emmy for their work in interactive television. Prior to GSN, Sansoy served as CTO of Icebox.com, an internet company that created original animated online programming.

Based in Van Nuys, Animax's previous MMO experience includes TyGirlz.com, a virtual world targeted and girls at launched to accompany Ty Inc.'s line of Ty Girlz plush dolls.

Said Sansoy, "Animax is a leader in building cutting edge interactive applications with a robust portfolio of innovation, exceptional talent, and exciting business opportunities in the pipeline. I am very honored and excited to contribute to the growth and success of this company."

Icarus Studios has announced several key additions aimed at providing more social features with its platform for creating virtual worlds, MMOGs, and serious games.

Based in Cary, North Carolina, the middleware developer's technology platform on industry standards to accelerate time to market, reduce development and running costs, and enable new revenue streams through 3D, Web, Flash, and mobile user experiences. Icarus Studios' MMOG and virtual worlds solution includes design and content production, monetization, customer support, hosting, and an integrated technology platform.

In addition to receiving game engine improvements, the platform now supports a mail system with a cash on delivery option, an auction system, a guild/club system, and raids.

Said Icarus Studios CEO Jim Hettinger: “After several months of refinements and testing, the Icarus Studios platform now offers a new layer of powerful technical features and system enhancements.”

With the 2008 Austin Game Developers Conference coming this September 15-17 and registrations now open for the Austin, Texas event - which includes both 'Online Gaming' tracks and a special Worlds In Motion Summit for businesspeople and brands looking to get into virtual worlds, it's time to continue highlighting a few of the already-announced lectures:

- Playfish CEO Kristian Segerstrale will be sharing 10 Key Ingredients for a Successful Social Game with her session's attendees, using data and design examples from Facebook hit Who Has The Biggest Brain? Casual game developers with an interests in social games will appreciate her insights on structuring a social games team and avoiding development process problems.

- SOE Austin senior community manager Em Stock, Flying Lab Software director Troy Hewitt, and EA Bioware community manager Sean Dalberg will hold an intriguing discussion on The Psychology of The MMO Gamer. Joined by University of Texas's Department of Psychology staff, including professor Dr. Samuel Gosling and department head and chairman Dr. James Pennebaker, the group will share proven practices for better interpreting and dealing with online communities behaviors, behaviors and feedback which should be dismissed or examined, and tips for not letting player behaviors affect and manipulate developers emotionally.

- Drakeford & Kane LLC attorney Sean Kane will deliver an informative lecture for our Business & Marketing track titled Managing Copyright Issues in Videogames and Virtual Worlds. The presentation will discuss the various forms of work subject to copyright protection as they relate to video game and virtual world environments. Kane will also cover the differing treatment of the interplay of player and developer rights as have been decided by the US & Asian courts.

For more information, including a number of other key already debuted lectures that we'll be highlighting weekly here on WorldsInMotion.biz, alongside further new Worlds In Motion Summit/online keynote specifics as they happen, check out the official Austin GDC 2008 website.

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape. You can view Part 1 of our investigation here, and Part 2 here.]

There has been around since 2003, and as a result the social MMO has seen many trends in the industry come and go without disappearing itself. But does it deserve to have a long life ahead of it? We conclude our findings after the jump.

At the ongoing Social Gaming Summit in San Francisco, a panel of virtual world execs representing companies like NeoPets, K2, and Nexon got to the heart of why casual virtual worlds were blooming, how developers can make money off of free to play games, and what percentage of players might actually pay.

Virtual World News editor and moderator Joey Seiler asked the panel why the casual MMO trend was happening now. Responded K2 marketing VP Patrick Ford, "As a consumer, I have a bookshelf full of $40-60 games that were cracked open once or twice and maybe put back and I didn't get a good experience from it... but when my son asks me for $5 for a premium package [in an online game], I know it's money well spent."

Added NeoPets senior VP Kyra Reppen: "We obsessively follow what our consumers are doing, and it is just so apparent to us that gaming is the entertainment experience across the board, but particularly in the youth space."

"The term is still funky," she added. "I think the big revolution is that gaming is entertainment for this generation and focusing on all of the aspects and iterations of it is important."

Said Nexon marketing VP Min Kim: "Most of the market that we target has been completely under-served. When you talk about MMORPGs, most of them are subscription models. Teens are the most social animals out there, but they have no access to the money you need to do that... they're desperate for that type of [free to play] content."

Seoul-based online game developer T-Entertainment has announced that it has licensed Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 for its upcoming PC MMORPG project, L2, scheduled for a worldwide release in 2010.

T-Entertainment describes L2 as "futuristic fantasy with a taste of space opera," drawing elements from both role-playing and real-time strategy games. Despite its varied sources of inspiration, L2 will be a massively multiplayer online role-playing game much like studio's previous titles, Laghaim and Last Chaos.

T-Entertainment hopes to take advantage of Unreal Engine 3's latest enhancements for L2's development, including advanced character lighting, ambient occlusion, and dynamic fluid surfaces.

In addition to L2, T-Entertainment is currently developing BonoBono Online, an online casual game based on popular Japanese animation character BonoBono. The company also operates Second Life in Korea with its own brand through SLGGP (Second Life Grid Global Provider) contract with Linden Lab.

Said T-Entertainment CTO John Hong: "We have a team of seasoned professionals devoted to L2 project, and we are confident that by integrating our expertise and Unreal Engine 3's excellent performance, L2 will be a top-tier MMORPG that fascinates gamers all around the world."

Epic Games vice president Jay Wilbur added, "T-Entertainment is a well-diversified entertainment company that is poised to launch yet another successful MMORPG worldwide. We are constantly improving the Unreal Engine, and look forward to providing them with cutting-edge game development tools and technology for many months to come."

UK-based studio Near has launched Near London to the business community, a 3D virtual world modeled after the city of London’s retail district and built on middleware developer Qube Software’s Q platform.

Advertised for its flexibility and potential for customization, Q is not only a universal client for the 3D internet, but also a games engine compatible with all the main consoles and operating systems. As a universal client, Q enables users to access different virtual worlds without having to download new software every time.

Near aims to present cities as virtual gateways, targeting retailers and other businesses who want to develop their online presence. Near London allows users to access virtual worlds for shops from London’s retail district by clicking their doors.

Because Near London is built on Q’s extensible framework, third parties can add applications to any part of the 3D world and even transport users to separate worlds. The client's flexible architecture means it can also potentially adapt for future needs through new plug-ins.

Near specializes in modeling city destinations and turning them into virtual environments for business, socializing and exploration. The company plans to eventually expand Near London to cover the City of London and West London, as well as support additional platforms, including Mac, Linux, Wii, Xbox360, PS3 and Mobile.

Said Qube Software CEO and co-founder Servan Keondjian: “For newcomers to real-time 3D it should be stressed that building interactive 3D sites is more challenging than building 2D websites. Q is a serious technical solution, designed for studios that have deep experience of building cutting-edge worlds and games. For this reason we chose Near as our partner to develop a custom platform based on Q for real cities. Near allows less specialised developers access the power of Q for real city 3D applications.”

He continued: “We believe that Q can do for the 3D internet what Netscape did for the old 2D web; make it a seamless experience. It’s a big claim but we don’t make it lightly. It’s taken us 10 years of hard work to get this technology right.”

Consumer electronics and online game publisher Joytoto USA, a subsidiary of Korea-based Joytoto Co., Ltd, has announced that it will distribute Joyon Entertainment's Korean online game The Great Merchant in the U.S.

Rated by South Korean web portal and search engine Daum as the fourth most popular online title played in Korea, The Great Merchant is an online economy simulation game. Joytoto USA plans to launch a closed beta in Q4 2008 after the title has been localized.

The Great Merchant's release comes as part of a recent deal Joytota secured to exclusively distribute titles from Joyon's library of 24 online games, including casual games, first-person shooter games, and MMORPGs. Joyon's library of games currently operating in Asian markets have generated over $100 million so far.

Said Joytoto USA CEO Michael Cho when the deal was first announced: "We believe our games will enjoy similar or better success here in the United States, and, as the majority of development costs have already been incurred bringing the games to market in Asia, the cost savings will undoubtedly give us a significant competitive advantage."

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape.]

This week, our Online World Atlas looks at Fresbo World from Fresbo. Fresbo World is an online world currently in public beta that is intended to be embedded in social networks (such as Facebook and MySpace) but which is also to offer full MMO functionality within that -- with a customizable avatar, home, and public areas to shop and socialize in real time.

Name: Fresbo World

Company: Fresbo

Established: January 2008

How it Works: Fresbo World is experienced on the web through a combination of html and Flash. It requires no installation, other than of the technology (if you don't have it installed already.) Navigation and gameplay are accomplished via mouse and keyboard input.

Overview: Fresbo World is a socially orientated online world like most others, offering a customizable avatar, a home to decorate and areas in which players can meet and socialize. Players can also arrange events and auction unwanted items, and games are available to play. The world has also been designed to allow users the ability to embed the client on social network pages.

Payment Method: Fresbo World is free to play, and earns revenue through microtransactions -- users can buy "Fresbo Credits", used to purchase items and clothes, via a variety of different payment methods, including Cherry Credits.

Key Features:
- Browser MMO embeddable on social networks
- Customizable avatar and home, with clothes and items to buy
- Interact with other users in real time in social spaces such as the mall or the park

Useful Links:
Official Forum

Seeking to expand its presence in online gaming and virtual worlds, MTV Networks' Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group revealed that it will be creating two new divisions around those efforts, according to a report from digital content business site PaidContent.

Following a two-year $100 million investment in the casual games space, Nickelodeon plans to add 1,600 new games to its library of 5,000 titles currently available. Dave Williams, former senior vice president and general manager of MTVN's Shockwave and Addicting Games, will lead the company's online gaming strategy as senior vice president and general manager of the newly formed games group.

Williams' responsibilities will include adding subscription game services, licensing, and self-publishing businesses. He will also work with game developers and publishers, as well as partner with Nickelodeon's consumer products division to develop titles around popular properties, such as SpongeBob SquarePants and iCarly, and original properties, such as Shockwave’s Carrie the Caregiver.

Former NickJr.com head and current NeoPets senior vice president and general manager Kyra Reppen will lead Nickelodeon's virtual worlds initiative under similar SVP and GM titles, working on the Neopets virtual world, a SpongeBob environment, and another project tentatively titled Monkey World. As part of its virtual worlds strategy, NeoStudios has been renamed Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group Virtual World Studios.

San Jose-based online game publisher Gamescampus.com has appointed David Chang as its executive vice president of marketing and business development. In his new role, Chang manage the company's marketing, business development, and public relations departments.

Prior to Gamescampus.com, Chang served as vice president of business development at PlaySpan, a publisher-sponsored in-game commerce network. Previous to that, he worked at video game site IGN as managing director of international business leading owner Fox Interactive Media's international content strategy, corporate development, and operational expansion into Europe and Asia.

Run by OnNet USA, Gamescapus.com is an online portal for free-to-play, item-based MMOGs, such as golf game Shot Online and upcoming Square Enix MMORPG Concerto Gate.

Said OnNet CEO Kevin Kim: "We are delighted to welcome a seasoned industry professional of David's caliber to Gamescampus.com. His extensive experience in driving both the growth of organization and its marketing and communication efforts will be a tremendous asset as we take advantage of the market opportunities in 2008 and beyond."

3D virtual worlds creator Icarus Studios has announced that it has signed a partnership agreement to license its Icarus platform with The Venue Network, an on-demand virtual venue provider which shares content and customizes experiences for online attendees.

Currently under private beta testing as the company readies a public release for Q3 2008, The Venue Network allows presenters and educators to meet with online attendees and share documents and media through a browser-based 3D experience. Using avatars and point-and-click templates, the company enables users to create interactive learning, collaborative, social, and entertaining experiences without worrying about distance, time, or impractical costs.

The announcement follows Icarus Studios' recent update of its virtual worlds and MMOG platform to game engine improvements and new social features, such as a mail system with a cash on delivery option, an auction system, a guild/club system, and raids.

Said Icarus Studios CEO Jim Hettinger: “We are very excited to partner with The Venue Network. Serious games and distance learning have become core uses for our virtual world technology platform, and The Venue Network’s 3D virtual venues is a great example.”

Ottawa-based developer Fuel Industries has launched a AllGirlArcade.com, an online entertainment portal targeted at young girls, providing casual games, user memberships, a point and rewards systems, an online mall, and the ability to play cooperatively with other girls. The studio also plans to release an accompanying MMOG in fall.

Along with feature articles and interviews with females in the game development industry, the site features a team of intergalactic female video game champions, The All Girl Star Squad. A series of animated "webisodes" set the tone for All Girl Arcade and serve as inspiration for the set of availabl web games. The planned MMOG will revolve around the All Girl Arcade universe, featuring characters and locations from the story.

Third party games will also eventually be hosted on the network in order to add to All Girl Arcade's offerings. Fuel Industries hopes to one day expand on the concept with a cross-media venture, involving movies, merchandise, and television.

Is there an easy way to explain what makes games fun? Is it even possible to explain what fun is? At the Social Gaming Summit, a panel including Ian Bogost (Persuasive Games) and Nicole Lazzaro (XEODesign) discussed what fun is in the context of social gaming, looking at Facebook gaming to argue that social context is key.

Nicole Lazzaro, president of XEODesign began the panel by stating that "The most important quadrant for this conference is what we call social fun - people will play games they hate just to hang out with their friends. In social games, amusement and social bonding are the emotions that you are going for."

Facebook And Social Gaming

"Parking Wars is definitely the best game on Facebook," offered Persuasive Games' Ian Bogost. "Why is that? You're playing as yourself, but a different version of yourself. When we play as ourselves in a game like Parking Wars, it's us, but it's also slightly not us. We get to suspend the normal roles of our social life and try new roles. Also, it's about something. The something is parking, which sounds boring, but it's meaningful - it's a context."

He continued, "By taking advantage of knowledge you pull from Facebook, like other's schedule, you're leveraging your knowledge of your network of friends and exploiting it in ways you might not usually do. I know there's a great obsession to hook people and get them back as soon as possible, but it can reduce the meaning of a game to ask for that kind of regularity. You want a meaning behind the time between each session, which Parking Wars has. Another example of that is Animal Crossing."

Fulfilling a long-demanded request from its users, animated avatar site Meez has launched Meeznation, a new virtual world made specifically for its custom avatars, according to a report from social networking news site Mashable.

Meeznation's debut follows the company's virtual rooms application on Faceboook released earlier this year. The new online world allows users to host games, customize rooms, and embed applications, such as YouTube videos, into the environment.

Though the new online world isn't connected to the Facebook application, Meeznation rooms are accessible through the application. The virtual rooms can be branded with interactive marketing as part of Meez's advertising. This is in addition to companies such Nike, Panasonic, and Sears providing accessories and backgrounds for Meez avatar customization.

Malaysian online game operator Cubinet has entered into a new agreement with China-based operator Perfect World to license 3D MMORPG Chi Bi for Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore.

Developed by Perfect World and based on the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, Chi Bi will be introduced in several different languages for local markets by Cubinet, including Chinese, English, Vietnamese, and Thai.

The game is the fourth 3D MMORPG Cubinet has licensed from Perfect World, the previous three being Perfect World II, Legend of Martial Arts, and Zhu Xian. Perfect World II has already received a commercial launch in Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore, while Legend of Martial Arts has so far debuted in Malasia and Singapore.

Said Perfect World chairman and CEO Michael Chi: "Cubinet is one of Perfect World's major overseas partners. I believe the response we have seen from Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore for our previously licensed games can be largely attributed to Cubinet's strong operating capabilities. Given that Chi Bi has been well-received in China's online game market and that Cubinet has extensive experience in operating games in South East Asia, I believe this agreement will be another success."

In a guest article at Terra Nova, The Digital Space Commons president and CEO Bruce Damer has speculated that we may already be seeing early signs of a virtual worlds downturn that could be as severe as the "winter" experienced in 2000-2003.

Damer poses several questions which he feels are important to consider when following adoption and business curve trends for virtual worlds platforms: "Is the fact that our business treats as normal the building top to bottom custom browsers and servers a clear sign of an immature industry? Would the continuous beefing up of Flash or Adobe's new AIR platform 'eat the virtual worlds medium' by creating a single ubiquitous front end?"

In addition to hinting at stalled growth for Second Life and emerging virtual worlds platform balkanizing an already limited usership, he predicts that failing venture-funded online world enterprises could deflate expectations and pull down the whole medium, similar to the effect housing foreclosures have on a neighborhood: "The media will capitalize as easily on the stories of the failures on the way down as they did with the stories of the successes on the way up."

Damer plans to continue his forecast and the discussion in a second, upcoming piece covering how to head off or reduce the slope of this potential new downturn: Ways to Cross the Chasm While Avoiding the Big Belly Flop.

Disney is planning a summer launch for DisneyFamily.com, an ad-supported, parent-focused social network with avatars, and other community features, according to a report from digital content business site PaidContent.

Based on its research of competitors and observations of its current family site, Disney hopes to target mothers by making the the experience more "intimate" than rivals MySpace.com and Facebook. Targeted at mothers but open to both mothers and fathers, DisneyFamily.com will allow users to relate to others in the community by "expressing themselves in creative ways."

DisneyFamily.com users will be able to create avatars not just to represent themselves, but to represent their entire family, from children to pets. They'll also be able to upload photos, share user-created "stickers," post Twitter-type updates, and complete quizzes modeled after quizzes typically found in women's magazines.

With the recent launch of our new Worlds In Motion Job Board as a standalone board complete, complete with its own RSS feed and unique URL, every week, we will be higlighting the latest posted jobs relevant to our readership of professionals creating online worlds.

The listings cover a wide range of companies and open positions, so everyone seeking jobs in the MMO/online/virtual world industry should find the board useful.

- Funtactix Ltd. (Tel Aviv, Israel)
Lead Artist
("The Funtactix Lead Artist will define the look and style of entire social gaming universes – multiple connected games presented in a compelling web experience, with rich character customization and development. This is a unique opportunity to provide broad artistic direction to a unique game experience at the exciting intersection of games and social networks. We are looking for an individual who wants to work in a fast-paced, rapid-iteration environment where their contribution will influence the company's success and where their efforts will ultimately rally a large, connected community of gamers.")

- Interplay Entertainment Corp (Irvine, CA)
Technical Director
("Interplay Entertainment is looking for a qualified, motivated Technical Director to join our team working on a next generation MMORPG. We are looking for a team player who can accurately anticipate the project’s needs; someone who can constructively contribute to the quality of the game as a whole and share in its vision; someone who is an accomplished manager, serving the needs of all of the Lead Programmers.")

- Multiverse (Mountain View, CA)
Game Programmer
("In July 2004, a team of Netscape veterans founded The Multiverse Network, Inc., a company aiming to become the world’s leading network of Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) and 3D virtual worlds. Multiverse has pioneered a new technology platform designed to change the economics of virtual world development by providing independent game developers with the resources they need to enter and compete in the $2 billion online game market.")

- Realtime Worlds Ltd. (Boulder, CO)
Vice President of Online Operations, Marketing Manager, Director of Development
("We are developing revolutionary new software technology, which will have widespread applications throughout many industries. As avid game players, we believe the future of video games lies in massively multiplayer on-line gaming. Constantly evolving worlds with real players and communities offer an unrivalled experience that many players have yet to enjoy. We have an innovative concept and unique technology that will deliver new possibilities to massively multiplayer on-line gaming.")

As a reminder, once you've paid to post your job on Gamasutra, it's absolutely free to cross-post that job to any of Gamasutra's sister sites - including WorldsInMotion.biz!

Worlds In Motion will continue to highlight the online worlds-related jobs posted at our new standalone Worlds In Motion Job Board, every week.

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape.]

An online world intended to be embedded in social networks, Fresbo World is in public beta, and we take a look in-depth after the jump.

Ndoors Interactive, a U.S. subsidiary of Korea-based massively multiplayer online games developer and publisher Ndoors Corp, have announced that it will launch a closed beta for its turn-based, strategy MMOG, Atlantica, this July.

Specifically designed to set itself apart from other MMOs with its unique combat, mercenary, and city/country management systems, Atlantica takes players through ancient settings and civilizations, such as Hanyang (Korea), Indus Valley (India and Pakistan), Mesopotamia (Iraq, Syria and Turkey), and Egypt.

The turn-based combat system allows players to plot the movements and strategies of nine characters in their group. Players can form teams of three to bring 27 controllable characters into combat.

Atlantica's mercenary system gives players the chance to manage multiple characters’ development simultaneously. In addition to their main character, players can hire eight mercenaries each with a different class and skills.

The city/country management system agoes beyond typical party level interaction, enabling guilds to control cities and go to war with each other. Players will need to plan everything from culture, commerce , industry, and even building placement.

Said Ndoors Interactive CEO Peter Kang: “We really strived to create a game that gave players something new. Atlantica was designed to bring the gameplay that RPG and strategy fans love the most to the MMO world. Atlantica takes smarts, requiring planning and strategy at every step.”

MMOG publisher Gamigo has announced that it has acquired exclusive publishing rights for English, German, French, and Spanish versions of free-to-play MMO Fiesta Online in Europe.

Originally developed and released in Korea by Ons On Soft and operated by OutSpark in the States, Fiesta Online features cartoonish 3D graphics, customizable characters over four different classes, and hundreds of quests, some of which can be tackled by groups of up to 30 players.

Gamigo plans to make the game available in Europe this summer starting with German and English (reworked) versions and following up with French and Spanish versions later this year. Players can pre-register for upcoming beta tests by signing up at the official site.

Said Gamigo CEO Sven Ossenbrüggen: “Fiesta Online is our biggest game so far and has already proven successful in the US and Asia. Improving the international versions with a completely reworked translation and storyline, we are offering players a high quality game to enjoy for free!”

Speaking with Digital World Tokyo, Japanese developer Eitarosoft has revealed that a Java version of Lamity, its 3D virtual world also under development for Google's Android smartphone platform, will come pre-installed with Japanese mobile phone operator NTT DoCoMo's 9061i handset series.

Eitarosoft's previous community-targeted mobile title, Mobage-Town, a mobile social network site created for web specialist DeNA, boasts 10 million active users and upwards of 500 million page views per day. Eitrasoft representative Eri Tokita explained, "That’s more than Yahoo’s social networking sites combined."

In addition to its plans to add in-game marketing and advertisements to Lamity, Eitarosoft has also included purchasable currency, City Coins. Online shops are available available for users to purchase items at with City Coins -- buying the City Coins themselves will shop up on the user's bill the following month.

Tokita also hinted that it is working towards using Lamity to catch the interest of companies like IBM and U.S. mobile carrier T-Mobile, the latter of which will have handsets supporting Android by the end of the year.

With YouTube disruptive to the movie and TV industries, a panel at the recent Social Gaming Summit, including Daniel James (Puzzle Pirates) and Cary Rosenzweig (IMVU) looked at the idea that that the games industry should understand user generated content before it's too late, with the intriguing proposition that game developers should think virtual "spaces" not virtual "worlds."

"The more tools that you provide can lead to richer behavior, but often it's the simpler things that people enjoy most," began Daniel James, CEO of Three Rings. "As designing games constraints can lead you to designing better games, constrained environments can lead to more fun."

"The simplest games are the ones everybody can join in and play," expanded Ted Rheingold, founder of Dogster and Catster.

Cary Rosenzwieg, the president and CEO of IMVU, described their take on user-generated content. "Almost 100% of the content in IMVU is user-generated. They have collectively created the world's largest catalog of virtual items."

"Much like eBay, we introduced buyers and sellers within the game, and last year we estimate our top developer made $1 million in income, and our top 10 made over $100,000 each. We've never issued a press release in our history and people have come primarily through word-of-mouth."

Rosenzweig continued, "Of most people who create items, most of them create one or two items. People do what they do mostly for affirmation; because being a creator is cool and they like the status -- it's their choice if they want to turn the credits to cash."

Nexon America has begun a closed beta for Sugar Rush, its first MMOG developed by a western studio and targeted specifically for North American audiences. The title will allow players to fight against each other while trying to collect virtual coins.

Nexon's previous MMO titles - MapleStory, Mabinogi, and Combat Arms - have all so far been developed by studios based in South Korea. The company's titles are free to play without subscriptions, but typically offer customizations and virtual goods purchasable with real money. According to a recent report by the Wall Street Journal, Nexon's U.S. 2007 revenue more than tripled to $29.3 million from $8.5 million the prior year.

The development team working on Sugar Rush is based in Vancouver, Canada and includes former Electronic Arts Worldwide Studios Group vice president and creative director Steve Rechtschaffner, as well as studio Klei Entertainment.

Headed by Jamie Cheng, Klei Entertainment previously developed and published Eets, a 2D puzzle game for PCs which was later revamped for Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade.

Developer and publisher Codemasters has revealed a free expansion for MMORPG ArchLord titled Episode 3: Spirits Awakening. The update, which is scheduled to go live in "the coming weeks," is expected to overhaul the title with up to 30% new game content.

ArchLord challenges it players with raising an army to compete to become an all-ruling ArchLord on their servers. Spirits Awakening will add three new game zones, skills, ruling ArchLord skill and abilities, armor, items, and monsters.

Codemasters Online announced in May that ArchLord had attracted over 500,000 subscribers following the company's decision to switch to a free-to-play model with its August 2007 expansion, Season of Siege.

Said Codemasters Online director of marketing Ed Relf: "We are pleased to be able to set out our exciting new expansion plans for ArchLord. As recently announced ArchLord is now more popular than ever with thousands of new players taking up the challenge every day to compete to become the games all-ruling leader! Episode 3 adds a significant amount of new content to what is already a leading free MMORPG and we look forward to delivering this free expansion to our players in the coming weeks."

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape. You can view Part 1 of our investigation here, and Part 2 here.]

Fresbo World is an online world in public beta that's intended to be embedded in social networks, and last time we left it we noted that it was a "small MMO with a small community" but is that a problem? We conclude after the jump.

Social gaming and dating community Human Pets has launched HumanPets.com, expanding its online hangout from a Facebook application to an independent site.

Targeted at both teens and young adults, Human Pets offers a virtual world based on the concept of having humans as pets, their nicknames determined by their owners. All users are animals who can be fed, groomed, nicknamed, and even sold and bought as pets. Players can also earn virtual currency by participating in games, forums, chat rooms, and auctions.

Human Pets also offers adult content and activities to its 18-plus-years-old users in the form of optional paid memberships, allowing subscribers to exchange erotic items and join adult herds (herds being Human Pets' equivalent of groups). A portion of the paid membership proceeds are donated to the World Wildlife Fund.

According to Human Pets, the community has grown to 2 million users since first launching as a Facebook application in summer 2007. 15,000 people have reportedly signed up for the independent site since its beta release last week. Human Pets claims that its users spend over 30 minutes per day on average at the community.

Linden Lab has announced that it will celebrate Second Life's 5th Birthday by holding a two-week long Virtual World Fair, which will feature roundtable discussions, parties and exhibits showcasing the creativity of its users and innovative uses of the Second Life platform.

The fair will kick off with founder and former CEO Philip Rosedale and current CEO Mark Kindom each delivering an opening address. Lotus Development Corporation founder and Linden Lab board member Mitch Kapor will offer closing remarks.

The Virtual World Fair, which will take place in several Second Life regions from June 23 to July 7, will be open to Second Life users, Linden Lab employees, and industry thought leaders. The event will explore topics such as Second Life's evolving culture, the role of virtual worlds in business, and the platform's opportunities for areas such as health care and education.

Said Rosedale: “It’s amazing to look back and reflect on everything that we’ve accomplished in such a short time. From our initial launch, to the decision to allow Residents to retain their IP, to opening up the Platform to third parties, most of the decisions we’ve made have gone against the grain of conventional wisdom and that’s made all the difference."

He continued: “While we’ve come a long way in our first five years and have surmounted significant challenges, there’s still plenty of work left as we continue to advance the medium. With Mark’s leadership and the passion and creativity of our Residents we are extremely excited about what the future holds and the evolving role that Second Life will play in business, arts, education and communication in general.”

With the 2008 Austin Game Developers Conference coming this September 15-17 and registrations now open for the Austin, Texas event - which includes both 'Online Gaming' tracks and a special Worlds In Motion Summit for businesspeople and brands looking to get into virtual worlds, it's time to continue highlighting a few of the already-announced lectures:

- BioWare Austin technical director Bill Dalton will share his studio's selection criteria and methods for evaluating third-party components in an MMO context. The informative session, Licensed Software - Cost Benefit Analysis, will focus on engine technologies, but will also touch on third-party tools.

- Representing GarageGames, the publisher behind online gaming platform InstantAction, lead programmer Ben Garney will deliver an advanced lecture on Efficient Robust Networking for network programmers and engine designers, as well as MMO developers seeking to maximize the number of players they can support on each server. He'll share battle-tested techniques for maximizing networking code, increasing scalability, and resisting hackers and cheaters.

- Kenyon and Kenyon attorney and editor of textbook Business and Legal Primer for Game Development S. Gregory Boyd will discuss the effects different virtual property models have on design, game play, and revenue generation. In his talk, Comparing Virtual Property Models - A Business and Legal Perspective, Boyd will compare and contrast virtual property structures in the U.S. and abroad for both games and social networks. This session will be an excellent opportunity for attendees to learn how important choosing the right virtual property model is to a project's success.

For more information, including a number of other key already debuted lectures that we'll be highlighting weekly here on WorldsInMotion.biz, alongside further new Worlds In Motion Summit/online keynote specifics as they happen, check out the official Austin GDC 2008 website.

In advance of its report on "How to Justify Enterprise Investment in Virtual Worlds," information and technology research and advisory firm Gartner has outlined a three-step, incremental approach that it believes will constrain costs and emphasize benefits for virtual worlds, helping companies gain needed funding and approvals.

According to the firm, business leaders are hesitant to invest in virtual worlds due to lack of clarity on their proven benefits. Said Gartner fellow and vice president Steve Prentice: “Despite understandable concerns about investment during a time of growing business uncertainty, we believe that the internal deployment of virtual worlds offers most enterprises significant benefits in cost savings and improved productivity.”

Gartner encourages companies to first emphasize their virtual worlds as training environments. Environments and scenarios can be replicated online for trainees to interact with each other and their trainers through avatars. "The benefits of improved employee knowledge and training can be clearly enumerated, and the savings (or transference of funding) compared with established training methodologies can be reliably calculated to build a credible and substantiated business case."

The firm then advises that companies extend their virtual-world deployment to support collaboration and employee interaction, enabling clients to cut down on travel and associated costs when gathering employees to a single site. Said Gartner, "The ability to show cost savings — for example, reduced use of expensive videoconferencing or telepresence facilities, as well as reduced international travel and "downtime" — to support and offset the initial investment forms the basis for a credible and defensible business case."

For the final stage, Gartner suggests adding a virtual world recreation of the social environment in workplaces, including seating areas, white boards, and even a water cooler. The contributions of these arrangements can be measured in their benefits to employee satisfaction, morale, retention, and innovation.

Prentice concluded: “The bottom line is to take a cautious and staged approach toward introducing virtual-world projects into the enterprise; moving too far and too fast will significantly reduce the chances of success, increase costs and make the benefits more difficult to quantify and attribute. By following the three-step sequence, virtual-world investments will have a greater chance of success and will lead the way toward future funding and deployment."

Talent management and retention solutions provider Kenexa has unveiled SimSJT: Customer Service, an online simulation platform designed to assess customer service aptitude. The program uses its virtual 3d environment to measure knowledge of roles associated with customer service.

SimSJT: Customer Service aims to help identify talented candidates with exceptional customer service skills, theoretically predicting job performance and reducing staff turnover. Users are led through a series of customer service episodes in a variety of locations - restaurants, hotels, retail stores, and offices. Kenexa believes that SimSJT has the added benefit of maintaining the interest and attention of candidates, reducing candidate attrition.

SimSJT: Customer Service is the first of a series of SimJST online assessments built on Kenexa's e-Psymulate platform. Kenexa plans to release assessments measuring Integrity, Teamwork and Safety Awareness in the next 12 months.

Said Kenexa president and CEO Troy Kanter: "Traditional text-heavy Situational Judgment Tests, or SJTs, rely on candidates reading through and comprehending often lengthy passages before they respond. Our SimSJT eliminates the need for this text-intensive approach by replacing it with simulated interactions that the candidate watches and listens to. Kenexa has a long history of delivering custom simulations for clients in the U.S., Europe, Russia and Australia. Through this work, we realized that a lot of customer service behaviors are consistent across positions or cultures. An off-the-shelf product, such as SimSJT, can be deployed rapidly across a wide variety of market sectors and industries."

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape.]

This week, our Online World Atlas looks at Build-A-Bearville, the online world attached to the Build-A-Bear brand. Still in public beta, the online world allows users to play games and chat using avatars, and also allow users who purchase physical Build-A-Bear toys to bring their stuffed animals to "life" in the online world using special codes that come with the toys.

Name: Build-A-Bearville

Company: Build-A-Bear Workshop

Established: October 2007

How it Works: Build-A-Bearville is experienced on the web through a combination of html and Flash. It requires no installation, other than of the technology (if you don't have it installed already.) Navigation and gameplay are accomplished via mouse and keyboard input.

Overview: Build-A-Bearville offers a customizable avatar, home and spaces for players to interact with each other. Only players who designate each others as friends can chat freely, with all other discussion keyword based "safe chat". Players can play games and embark on quests to earn "Bear Bills" which can be used to purchase clothes and furniture in in-world stores.

Payment Method: Build-A-Bearville is free to play, and earns revenue through its position as an extention of the Build-A-Bear brand. Players who purchase physical Build-A-Bear toys receive exclusive adventures and items as a result.

Key Features:
- Browser MMO featuring the Build-A-Bear brand
- Customizable avatar and home, with clothes and items to buy
- Safe chat with unknown users
- World is extended for users who purchase physical Build-A-Bear toys

Useful Links:
Official Parent's Info
Official FAQ
Build-A-Bear Workshop

Howard Marks is a big believer in brands. In 1991, he and Bobby Kotick invested in ailing publisher Activision, parlaying the strength of the company's name into an industry giant again; Kotick still serves as CEO.

Now, Marks is hoping to do the same with defunct publisher Acclaim, using that company's name and image to bolster a new publisher whose stock in trade is free-to-play MMOs catering to a number of audiences, including its PonyStars (pictured). During the ongoing Paris Game Developers Conference, the CEO spoke on the rise of the free-to-play model, and why he became involved in it.

The Revolution

Opened Marks, “I’m fascinated by the idea of people playing together. This is a multi-billion dollar industry, and it’s all free.”

“What is a revolutionary?" he asked, drolly revealing a slide of Che Guevara and answering that he is not one. "But some people in Asia created this free to play model, and it is some sort of revolution,” he added.

He pointed to the recent example of Radiohead, whose free release of the album In Rainbows spurred web traffic and awareness, and then led to sales.

Marks described how the free-to-play model can supplant subscription- or time-based models. At one point, he explained, games in China frequently operated on time-based point systems, but that system quickly became obsolete when free-to-play games were imported from countries such as Korea. Those time points quickly became repurposed into microtransactions.

3D virtual spaces and avatar provider IMVU has come out of stealth mode to announce that its platform has reached 20 million registered users and currently offers 1.5 million items in its virtual goods avatar.

The IMVU platform offers a wide range of features, including virtual rooms, personalized avatar home pages, a 3D messenger, a virtual goods catalog, groups, forums, developer tools, and interactive games.

Founded over four years ago, IMVU has expanded its community primarily through viral growth. According to VC firm Menlo Ventures, IMVU generates $1 million in revenue per month through its micro-payments economy. The service offers virtual credits which users can purchase and spend on user-created goods.

Said IMVU CEO Cary Rosenzweig: “Today’s announcement is dedicated to the wonderfully creative IMVU community of developers and members who want to express their unique selves using 3D avatars. The developers are a passionate part of the community and their creations inspire other members to express themselves in incredibly unique ways. I personally have great fun interacting with such a vibrant and growing community.”

Online game publisher Outspark has announced that it will soon allow players in its MMORPG Fiesta to virtually tie the knot through in-game weddings. Leading up to the new feature's launch, Fiesta will offer its users purchasable in-game tuxedos, wedding dresses, and wedding certificates beginning July 3rd.

The event will follow Fiesta game master WiLDFiRe's wedding with bride Isya in two special in-game ceremonies on July 1st and 2nd, both of which players can attend ater completing a wedding quest. Outspark has also teamed up with technology provider Dynno to allow up to a thousand players to watch a live broadcast of the event.

Also, Fiesta will host bachelor and bachelorette parties from June 24th to June 27th as WiLDFiRe's wedding date approaches. During the parties, players will be able to dance, socialize, win prizes, and more.

Talking as part of a keynote Q&A at the Paris Game Developers Conference, Blizzard SVP Rob Pardo has been discussing the history of world-leading MMO World Of Warcraft, revealing the game was originally planned as a free-to-play title.

Speaking as part of an in-depth conversation with GDC executive director Jamil Moledina, Pardo commented: “When were first going to make World of Warcraft, we wanted to make it free and advertising supported.”

However, the Blizzard exec noted: “We didn’t want to charge a subscription, but as we researched market conditions, we realized that wouldn’t support us.”

Elsewhere in the talk, Pardo discussed how the firm powered forward into the MMO genre with the PC MMO.

He quipped: “Very naively, or else we might not have done it.” Early inspirations were Ultima Online, and then Everquest - but Blizzard felt they could see the elements that made those games less accessible.

The full Pardo conversation at GDC Paris is now available on Gamasutra, including the Blizzard exec's thoughts on a whole host of major issues, from user-generated content through the Activision/Vivendi merger and beyond.

Online game publisher Gamescampus.com has announced a publishing deal with developer MaxOn Soft Corporation to launch Asda Story in the the U.S. market this fall.

Previously released in Japan in 2006 and in Korea in 2007, Asda Story is a free-to-play 3D MMORPG with a fantasy anime style. The game features a Soul Mate System with which two players can use a "soul mate" power to wear unique costumes and use special skills. Asda Story also incorporates a Real Costume System allowing players with extensive personalization and design options.

MaxOn Soft credits the two systems for generating a high female user ratio (20%) in the MMORPG since launching in Korea and Japan, as they enable players to personalize their characters and make them stand out. Gamescampus.com expects similar female ratios for the stateside launch of Asda Story.

Said David Chang, GamesCampus's newly appointed VP of marketing and business: "We are very pleased to announce our new partnership with MaxOn Soft which allows us to bring this wonderful product to the U.S. market. Asda Story has already built a successful following in Korea and Japan. It is an exciting and innovative 3D MMORPG, and we have every confidence it will be a major success in the U.S."

3D virtual worlds creator Icarus Studios and American Research Institute, an education and training services provider, have collaborated to form PowerU, a new venture offering an integrated learning infrastructure that incorporates 3DI (three-dimensional immersive) learning environments. The new platform aims to improve the effectiveness of workforce development.

Based in Morrisville, North Carolina, ARI supports several major organizations, including eBay, Microsoft, and the Air Force, with custom training solutions. The group specializes in designing its solutions with the latest instructional design technology and delivery infrastructure.

PowerU will use Icarus's Real Time development engine and nScale network architecture to add networked 3D environments with simulation systems to the ARI learning management environment. The resulting platform will enable users to create and deliver serious games and training courses with 3D approximations of real world scenarios.

With PowerU, users will not only have tools for creating and delivering 3DI learning scenarios, but services supporting instructional designers to develop 3DI content and interfaces to incorporate 3DI modules into existing learning infrastructures.

One of PowerU's first releases, a training course on sexual harassment avoidance techniques, allowed trainers to alter their content in different ways, such as switching the male aggressor to a female aggressor, to account for different real-world possibilities.

Said PowerU CEO and president Richard Kristof: “PowerU combines world-class instructional techniques and tools with a sophisticated game engine to serve the quickly growing immersive worlds/serious games market. This represents the most significant step forward in learning technology since training was first delivered over the Internet.”

Facing competition from internet heavyweights such as Cartoon Network and Webkinz, the Walt Disney Company has launched "Project Playground," a new initiative to redesign and reposition Disney.com over the next few months as a site focused on entertaining its users rather than promoting its merchandise and brand, according to a report from The New York Times.

Though Disney.com attracted up to 28.4 million unique visitors in May alone, ranking the site as the top online destination for children and family-oriented sites, the company is concerned with the time the average user spends at the official hub - 44.9 minutes. Compare that to Nickelodeon's group of family and child-oriented sites, which keep visitors busy for 79.8 minutes, mostly due to its Neopets virtual pet site.

Disney plans to make immediate entertainment, such as free video content, as the "central component" of its Project Playground effort, providing original clips and even full-length movies, such as Finding Nemo. Said Disney Online VP and managing director Paul Yanover, "It’s a repositioning of our digital front door."

The company also hopes to encourage more interaction with games that connect with user cellphones, such as a newly announced mobile component for Pixie Hollow, a forthcoming virtual world based on Disney's Tinker Bell fairy character. The mobile application allows users to create and care for a butterfly pet for their Pixie Hollow avatars, a feature not available in the online release.

Disney's executive vice president for mobile content, Larry Shapiro, commented, "I’m going to want to use my phone to feed and love my butterfly all the time. That kind of emotional vesting is what we’re after.”

With the recent launch of our new Worlds In Motion Job Board as a standalone board complete, complete with its own RSS feed and unique URL, every week, we will be higlighting the latest posted jobs relevant to our readership of professionals creating online worlds.

The listings cover a wide range of companies and open positions, so everyone seeking jobs in the MMO/online/virtual world industry should find the board useful.

- EA Redwood Shores (Redwood Shores, CA)
Sr Game Designer (Online Casual Games)
("Hasbro is looking for a passionate, dedicated, Online Senior Game Designer to lead the next generation of Online Worlds for Kids. This position is a great opportunity for a Senior Game Designer. You will be a key contributor to the team with responsibility to proactively create, manage and execute game designs ensuring both quality and timely delivery.")

- Funcom Oslo AS (Oslo, Norway)
Senior 360 Programmer, Rendering Programmer
("Funcom is a world leading independent developer and publisher of computer and console games with a focus on Action Adventure and Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG)... Funcom is currently developing two games internally, The Secret World and one unannounced MMOG project as well as operating the MMO's Age of Conan and Anarchy Online.")

- Multiverse (Mountain View, CA)
Game Programmer
("In July 2004, a team of Netscape veterans founded The Multiverse Network, Inc., a company aiming to become the world’s leading network of Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) and 3D virtual worlds. Multiverse has pioneered a new technology platform designed to change the economics of virtual world development by providing independent game developers with the resources they need to enter and compete in the $2 billion online game market.")

As a reminder, once you've paid to post your job on Gamasutra, it's absolutely free to cross-post that job to any of Gamasutra's sister sites - including WorldsInMotion.biz!

Worlds In Motion will continue to highlight the online worlds-related jobs posted at our new standalone Worlds In Motion Job Board, every week.

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape.]

Build-A-Bear is a well known brand in malls across the world, offering customers the chance to create their own unique bear to take home. Build-A-Bearville marks the entrance of the company into the online space, offering customers who've created a bear (and those who haven't) the chance to take an avatar into "Build-A-Bearville" to explore, play games and socialize.

Online game operator Sulake Corporation has announced that its teen social network site and virtual world, Habbo, formerly Habbo Hotel, has registered its 100 millionth user-created avatar since the service's launch in 2000.

According to Sulake, Habbo currently receives 10 million monthly visitors worldwide. In just the past six months, the community has grown by nearly 20 million registered new users, mostly due to a mix of factors -- new marketing and in-game campaigns, celebrity appearances in various countries, enhanced user features, and a recent site redesign.

Originally introduced in Finland, Habbo has expanded to 32 communities in countries across six continents. The service features an even ratio of female users to male users, with 70% of them aged 13-16 years old and 64% of its userbase visiting every day. On average, Habbo users spend 39 minutes at the site per visit.

Said Sulake CEO Timo Soininen: "During the past eight years, Habbo has maintained its vitality by listening to its users’ wishes and by adapting the service to meet Habbo’s needs. We humbly recognize the fact that Habbo is essentially our user’s own place and our role is to build and maintain a fun environment for them."

Soininen added: "This is an important landmark for Habbo. Attracting 100 million Habbos is a testament to how user generated content and activities in a fun cartoony setting create a compelling service and experience for teens. We have also lots of exciting plans for the future, and look forward to watching how Habbos engage with the world around them."

Seeking to reach the growing online Hispanic population (currently estimated at 19.5 million in the U.S.), virtual world developer and operator Makena Technologies has announced a collaboration with Mexican clothing brand NaCo USA to offer virtual clothes in There.com, as well as new opportunities for purchasing real-world merchandise.

The word "naco," in Mexican Spanish, is typically used as slang to describe tackiness or low-class manners, but the NaCo clothing brand was created in 1998 to embrace and celebrate the term. The company now boasts offices in Mexico City. Miami, and Los Angeles, selling its products in boutiques, department stores, and specialty retailers.

Now partnered with Makena, NaCo will have a specialty in-world catalog in There.com offering nine pieces of unique merchandise for players to buy and wear virtually. There.com users will also be able to purchase real-world merchandise as well.

Said NaCo founder and chief creative officer Edoardo Chavarin: "Because of There.com's demographic mix, the platform is a perfect fit for us to engage and connect with our target audience. We believe There.com's Hispanic audience will understand and appreciate our brand. Our customers spend a considerable amount of time on social networking sites and we believe that There.com's virtual world is the next evolution for interacting with our customers wherever they may be."

Makena Technologies CEO Michael Wilson added: "The Hispanic population in There.com is growing and comprises a very active segment of our community. We've seen an increase in the areas of our world that showcase this cultural influence and there are currently over 15 clubs in There.com that cater specifically to Hispanic audiences. With our members focused on self-expression and socialization, the fun, offbeat messages on NaCo's clothing offer our audience another unique way to express themselves."

Online game publisher Outspark has added to its MMOG offerings Project Powder, a new MMO snowboard racing title. The free-to-play game is currently in closed beta until July 8 and is scheduled to officially launch worldwide on August.

The final product will feature 33 courses, three game modes, multiplayer battles, and dozens of unlockable tricks. Players will also be able to purchase premium gear for their characters, such as new snowboards, clothing, and accessories.

Outspark is rewarding beta testers with in-game items and clothing by challenging them to reach level five and by hosting contests for different activities, such as screenshot taking and bug reporting. Players who can beat Project Powder's game masters in a race can also win real-world prizes, including music players and gift cards.

Russ Berrie hsa announced that it will introduce its new Applause brand plush toy line, SeaPals, on July 2 with "SeaPals Day" events at Ripley's Aquariums in Myrtle Beach, SC and Gatlinburn, TN, according to a report from public relations sites PRWeek.com.

As with Russ Berrie's Shining Stars toy line and accompanying site (and similar to Webkinz), kids can log into a virtual world with their SeaPals plush toy and register an online version to play with. The toy line includes plush reef sharks, manta rays, blue lobsters, and more. The SeaPals site will offer educational games and opportunities for children to interact with other players.

Said Litzky PR's management supervisor for Russ Berrie, Melissa Fogarty Winston, "The 'SeaPals Day' at each of the aquariums was created to reflect these different dimensions of the product through an experiential event. Children attending the Ripley's Aquariums functions will receive maps, passports, stickers, and educational materials.

Along with announcing that its avatar and 3D virtual spaces platform had reached over 20 million registered users, IMVU officially made its public debut earlier this week after spending four years in stealth mode.

IMVU reportedly generates $1 million in revenue per month through its micro-payments economy and catalog of purchasable virtual goods, and the company plans to expand on that through a partnership with prepaid card provider InComm. Soon, prepaid cards for IMVU credits will be available in Target, 7-11, Blockbuster, and Speedway stores throughout the U.S.

IMVU CEO and president Cary Rosenzweig took some time to talk with Worlds in Motion about the now public platform, including its growing virtual goods catalog and plans for attracting new users.

Why make your public debut now?

Rosenzweig: It has to do with celebrating these milestones. The 20 million registered users was a real milestone for us. We've also had the world's largest catalog for some time now. We recently crossed the 2 millionth item we've ever created, too.

It's time that we start telling the story. I think we have a better handle on what exactly IMVU is. For a long time, there were many different elements to it that we've been identifying. It's about people, and it's about our members meeting others from around the world.

All of this came together, and we decided that it's time.

Developer and publisher 38 Studios, formerly Green Monster Games, has appointed Thom Ang as its new director of art, where he will oversee the management and direction of all aspects of 38 Studios artistic development, including the company's forthcoming MMORPG codenamed Copernicus.

Founded in 2006 by Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, 38 Studios is working closely with author R.A. Salvatore and artist Todd McFarlane to bring its original fantasy IP to life with Copernicus. The company added former Everquest lead designer Travis McGeathy as Copernicus' new systems design lead in April, joining him with two other Sony Online vets, lead content designer and community development director Steve Danuser and design director Jason Roberts.

Previous to 38 Studios, Ang served as art director at THQ, managing over 25 titles. Prior to that, Ang held a similar position at Electronic Arts LA, where he handled visual concept development, art production, and team management for the Medal of Honor franchise.

Said 38 Studios CEO and president Brett Close: "38 Studios' creative teams have been meticulously crafting the signature look and feel for our upcoming MMOG over the past 18 months. Thom's extraordinary talent and experience will be key in driving the vision and quality of our Online Entertainment Experience."

Packaged food company ConAgra Foods has launched Spicy Side, a virtual world promoting its Slim Jim beef jerky snack food. Users can upload photos of themselves and create aggressive, mischievous avatars.

Slim Jim fans can challenge others in "real-time rumbles" and vandalize the digital Spicy Town, breaking mailboxes and spray painting walls. They can also collect hidden hidden Slim Jim snacks to unlock fighting moves and harass the virtual world's residents.

Spicy Side has uploaded a video highlighting the site's features which you can view at this link.

Developer Pelican Crossing has announced the release of Blink 3D 2.0, its virtual worlds and 3D environment development platform.

Blink 3D 2.0 comes packaged with Pelican Crossing's inDuality client, a feature which allows virtual worlds from different vendors to be embedded in web pages. This initial release of the client only supports Blink 3D virtual worlds so far, but the developer hopes to eventually add support for other MMOs, such as Second Life.

The new program suite includes video tutorials, BlinkScript code examples, knowledge base articles, forty new enhanced behaviors, and Orthographic Views, the last of which supports dragging and dropping of assets. The digital content creation pipeline has also been improved from previous versions with automatic asset importing and synchronization.

Three editions for Blink 3D 2.0 with varying price points have been released, with Blink 3D Ultra Lite, a feature-limited edition, being available for free.

Said Pelican Crossing CEO Clive Jackson: “We are not talking here about simply customizing a pre-built 3D apartment. With Blink 3D you can create your own virtual world, whatever type you want, quickly, easily and for free. With Web based virtual worlds there is no land to purchase, no membership fees, controlled branding and user access. Best of all, you get to teleport from one virtual world to another, with the linked worlds forming the Metaverse.“

He continued: "We have seen land grabs before: domain names, email addresses, personal web pages and more recently social networking pages. Now we will start to see the grab for personal virtual worlds tightly integrated with social networking pages, the beginning of the 3D Social Web.

Social network technology and online marketing services provider Wyndstorm has revealed Socialframes, a "destination widget" allowing companies to direct users to promotional sites and virtual worlds with tailored, branded content.

Socialframes provides a pre-built, interactive Web platform and content management system for creating dynamic and targeted online promotions. The platform also allows for profile-based content management, as well as in-scene IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) programming and video distribution within a 2.5D virtual world.

With the embeddable widget, multiple users can interact in Socialframes' 2.5D environments without needing to download additional software. Wyndstorm believes the platform would be suitable for a variety of industries, including online retail, training, gaming, financial services, transportation, and travel.

Said Wyndstorm CEO Marian Sabety: ""Brand marketers will love the ability to test a variety of promotions concepts or content delivery approaches. Companies looking to enhance sales will reap the benefits of collaborative online browsing for marketing intelligence and shopping with a friend for increased online sales.

With the 2008 Austin Game Developers Conference coming this September 15-17 and registrations now open for the Austin, Texas event - which includes both 'Online Gaming' tracks and a special Worlds In Motion Summit for businesspeople and brands looking to get into virtual worlds, it's time to continue highlighting a few of the already-announced lectures:

- CCP lead economist Eyjolfur Gudmundsson and Cartoon Network lead designer Sam Lewis will host a thorough discussion on economic design, scalability, and day-to-day economic management of virtual worlds, using practical examples from EVE Online and other MMOs. The session, Economic Design and Management of Virtual Worlds with a Large Shard Population is a must for MMO producers and designers interested in the application of economics to virtual worlds.

- Cartoon Network director of community relations Richard Weil and MindCandy.com director of community Rebecca Newton will discuss balancing community relations efforts with kid-targeted online games and virtual worlds. Titled Gaming Communities & Kids: Do You Know Your ABC’s?, the talk will also cover unique opportunities in community programs for kids, demographic-based communication tactics, and communication tools and methods used by younger online gamers.

- K2 Network's VP of India Market Development, Sumeet Maniar, will share his experiences publishing MMOG titles in India to give attendees an idea of the trends and issues with India's emerging MMOG market. As the Indian economy possesses many parallels with other developing countries in the gaming space, attendees will be able to apply what they'll learn in Emerging Market: India, Challenges & Pitfalls in other similar markets.

For more information, including a number of other key already debuted lectures that we'll be highlighting weekly here on WorldsInMotion.biz, alongside further new Worlds In Motion Summit/online keynote specifics as they happen, check out the official Austin GDC 2008 website.

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape. You can view Part 1 of our investigation here, and Part 2 here.]

Build-A-Bearville maybe isn't an obvious MMO to cover -- after all, it's arguably more about helping to sell toy bears than it's about offering a full MMO experience, but with new toy/MMO crossovers more and more frequent it's a phenomenon more than worth exploring. We conclude our thoughts on Build-A-Bearville after the jump.

Independent digital distribution network Pixel Mine has announced that it will be soon be adding Austin developer Callipygian's debut title, Secondhand Lands, an "edgy fairy-tale" MMO that will utilize Pixel Mine's microtransaction system.

Made up of a number of staff members of Austin studios like Aspyr, Callipygian says the game will be targeted at casual gamers and "the disillusioned 'Mega-MMO' veteran who wants more interaction with the developers in their gaming experience."

Pixel Mine says the game is currently in closed beta and involves the "eternal struggle between two sisters: Little Bo Peep and Little Red Riding Hood," as players choose whether to play as sheep or wolves to support Bo Peep and Red, respectively.

Said Callipygian founder and Secondhand Lands lead, "We chose to work with Pixel Mine because they offered us the best value for our company and our players. As an independent developer it is very difficult to find a distribution deal that gives us a package with everything we need to manage accounts and handle payments. Also, we are excited to be working with another Austin company; this town is rich with talent and services tailored for game creation."

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

Newly established company RES Interactive LLC will officially launch Tootsville.com, a new line of plush toys with an accompanying virtual world, on July 4 with events at Jacksonville and Orlando Fun Spot locations, according to reports from the Orlando Sentinel and Orlando Business Journal.

The plush elephant toys, or "toots," can hook up to PCs via USB, enabling children to register and create an online version of the toy in the Tootsville.com virtual world, similar to Disney's Club Penguin and Ganz's Webkinz franchises. Once logged in, users can decorate their virtual homes, play games, listen to songs, and chat with friends.

Tootsville.com offers free accounts, but children will need to subscribe for a paid monthly account to access other features, such as premium games, special events, collectible pins, "toot" customization, and the ability to purchase clothes, house decorations, and songs.

Currently in beta, the site has approximately 3,000 users so far. RES Interactive president Louis Pecci expects Tootsville.com to grow its membership to 50,000 by the end of the year and to 1 million by July 2009. "We expect about 60 percent will pay the $5.95 membership fee." Pecci also hopes to further extend the virtual world with multiple licensing agreements: "everything from clothing to backpacks to toothbrushes."

According to Pecci, the word "toots" has already been tagged as a "bad word" on Club Penguin. "We're definitely on somebody's radar over there," he said.

Online child protection services provider Crisp Thinking has added virtual world and social networking site Xivio to its client list, incorporating its online safety features to shield children from adult content and other hazards.

Reporting record growth in the last 60 days, Xivio offers children, 'tweens, and teens a Flash-driven virtual world chat room environment where they can interact in customizable rooms with their personalized avatars. Xivio's existing child-safety features include Parents Zone, which is a control panel for applying child security settings, and a patent pending democratic content rating system.

Crisp Thinking will add NetModerator monitoring of live chat interactions to protect children from inappropriate conversations, bullying, and potential sexual predators.

Said Crisp Thinking CEO Andrew Lintell: "Increased usage of social networks and virtual communities is putting web site moderators under immense pressure to identify and track inappropriate content and potentially harmful relationships. Xivio is amongst the first to recognize that this will only increase exponentially. Crisp's NetModerator will dramatically enhance Xivio's ability to police their site effectively."

Educational software developer Knowledge Adventure revealed that it plans to bring its 3D virtual world, JumpStart Advanced Preschool World, online on July 31st, according to a report from daily newspaper Daily Breeze.

Based in Torrance, CA, Knowledge Adventure released JumpStart Advanced Preschool World, its software for teach 3-to-5 year olds pre-reading, early math, social studies, art, music, computer skills, and critical thinking skills, in May 2008. Parents are encouraged to participate in the virtual world, and are invited to specify which holidays will be celebrated in the game, upload photos for arts and crafts projects, and track their child's progress.

Though the developer hasn't yet launched the software's online component, over 20,000 children have already become subscribers and can access enhanced content in JumpStart Advanced Preschool World. According to Knowledge Adventure children as spending an average of one hour playing the game each day.

When the paid subscription service starts, the Web site will allow children to explore the learning tools, moving from level to level without having to buy new software. It will also allow Knowledge Adventure to continually add and update content, as well as provide a multiplayer environment with user-generated content.

Once the online component has been made available, users will be able to interact with one another in JumpStart's 3D virtual world, going on adventures, completing missions, earning rewards, and learning. Subscribers will also be able to explore the learning tools, move from level to level without having to buy new software, download new and updated content, and more.

Knowledge Adventure CEO David Lord indicated that the developer is looking to bring its JumpStart brand and other properties to the Nintendo DS, Wii, and the iPhone.

Pointing to the popularity of virtual worlds such as Disney's Club Penguin and the declining sales in the educational software market, Lord explained Knowledge Adventure's move to the virtual world industry: "Here is where the revenue opportunities are. Here are the growth opportunities. Our market's shrinking. Let's make sure we get into the virtual world market."

Global virtual community for teens Habbo has announced that it will be working with the Matthew Shepard Foundation, a non-profit organization promoting compassion and acceptance among young people, to educate users and promote diversity through an "Erase Hate" project.

Starting July 7th, the Matthew Shepard Foundation staff will host discussions twice a week in Habbo.com's InfoBus, a virtual room designed as the inside of a bus. Users will discuss issues such as dealing with bullying, discrimination and hate experienced on and offline and how to encourage respect among peers.

Said Sulake North America president and Sulake Corp.'s EVP of marketing, ad sales, and business development, Teemu Huuhtanen, “The Matthew Shepard Foundation is exceptionally qualified to provide support to our users as they navigate their difficult teen years. The InfoBus has always been a popular resource for our teen community and we know they will take advantage of this opportunity to share their experiences and learn new tools to foster acceptance and compassion.”

Matthew Shepard Foundation executive director Judy Shepard added : "It is a mission of the Foundation to support young people and provide them with the resources to lead healthy, productive, hate-free lives. Our partnership with Habbo will allow us to have ongoing conversations with young people about what they can do in the fight to replace hate with understanding, compassion, and acceptance.”

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape.]

This week with our Online World Atlas we've decided to start looking at the more interesting "non-traditional" MMOs, starting with Kingdom of Loathing, one of the most popular browser-based RPGs to feature a multiplayer component, with in-game chat, clans, player-stores and more community aspects.

Name: The Kingdom of Loathing

Company: Asymmetric Publications

Established: February 2003

How it Works: Kingdom of Loathing is experienced on the web through html. It requires no installation and navigation and gameplay are accomplished via mouse and keyboard input.

Overview: In Kingdom of Loathing, players choose one of six classes and begin a largely single player adventure to gain levels, earn meat (the world's currency) and eventually rescue a king. Adventures are turn-based with a limited number of turns each day. Players can engage in Player vs. Player, join clans and sell items from stores when they reach the appropriate level, and those who pass a literacy test can take part in chat with other players.

Payment Method: Kingdom of Loathing is free to play, and earns revenue through donations (which grant players special in-game items) and merchandising.

Key Features:
- Browser RPG
- Player vs. Player combat
- In-game chat
- Clans
- User owned stores/economy

Useful Links:
Official explanation
Coldfront KOLWiki (Unofficial Kingdom of Loathing Wiki)
RadioKOL (Kingdom of Loathing Radio)