Virtual world advertising firm the Electric Sheep Company has announced WebFlock, a "private-label," Flash-based virtual world application for online social interaction, media consumption, and multiplayer casual gameplay.

WebFlock has been designed so that each implementation is separate and customizable, so that companies can control factors such as user registration, quality and safety of art content, monetization options (e.g. advertising, micro-transactions), web content integration, and other settings.

The application allows for users to create unique avatars, chat, interact with scripted objects, and play casual games. WebFlock's implementations can reside on a web page or be syndicated on social networks like MySpace and FaceBook.

The Electric Sheep Company intends to charge a monthly application services fee, which is based on concurrent users, to cover access to the software, hosting, technical support, and maintenance. Customization services, such as art creation, game design, or systems integration, are priced separately. A basic implementation with 12 months of application services fees goes for "under $100,000."

The firm has already announced Showtime television drama The L Word as its first customer. The Electric Sheep Company previously worked with the show to create am Emmy Award-winning "L Word in Second Life" online community in 2007.

Said The Electric Sheep Company CEO Sibley Verbeck: "We have spent years creating virtual experiences for media companies and brands, and have struggled to match available technology with the needs of our clients. That struggle led us to create WebFlock, and we are thrilled to work with SHOWTIME again as one of our first customers for the product."