MMO developer Turbine (Dungeons & Dragons Online, The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar) opened a new studio in Redwood City, CA, an expansion meant to complement its East Coast operations in Westwood, MA, where the company is based.

Turbine also announced the appointments of Dave Brevik as creative director, Jeff Lind as engineering director, and Matt McKnight as West Coast studio director of the California studio.

Brevik previously served as chief visionary officer at near-defunct Flagship Studios (Hellgate: London), which he also co-founded after spending seven years as both president for Blizzard North and as a director of Blizzard Entertainment.

Prior to Turbine, Lind led Flagship's online services subsidiary, Ping0. Additionally, he worked for six years at Electronic Arts, where he contributed to franchises like The Sims and The Lord of the Rings, as well as alternate reality game Majestic.

McKnight's résumé includes his roles as CEO and president of Sniper Studios (Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars). Before that, he worked at Electronic Arts for over ten years on series such as Madden and James Bond.

"The opening of our West Coast studio is a major milestone in Turbine’s long-term growth plans as it allows us to complement the outstanding talent we have on the East Coast with the pool of extraordinary talent available on the West Coast,” says Turbine president and CEO Jim Crowley.

He continues: "We are delighted that Dave, Jeff and Matt have joined us in this effort and we look forward to further announcements as we continue to expand this team."

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

Emerging business models for online games like microtransactions and tiered subscriptions have long met with skepticism from the average MMO enthusiast, who's viewed Blizzard and its standard subscription model for World of Warcraft as a bastion against new monetization strategies.

But it seems possible that Blizzard might soon explore the pay-for-goods arena after a press conference at its BlizzCon event -- though specifics are still being ironed out.

According to coverage from MMO news site WarCry, WoW production director J. Allen Brack was asked about a button found in the Wrath of the Lich King beta's data files called "Paid Character Customization."

The report says Brack first balked at addressing the question, and then ultimately confirmed that WoW would eventually incorporate some form of paid character customization, though the company is apparently still working details out.

Blizzard is also reportedly exploring ways to monetize multiplayer games on its Battle.net service for the upcoming Diablo III; while the details of that monetization strategy are also apparently still being worked out, Brack did confirm that it doesn't involve subscription fees.

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

[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've mentioned KingsIsle's teen and 'tween-targeted magic-themed virtual world Wizard101 multiple times here on Worlds In Motion, and now that it's been launched officially for a few weeks, it's time for us to give it an in-depth look as part of our Online World Atlas.

Name: Wizard101

Developer: KingsIsle Entertainment

Established: September 2006

How it Works: Wizard101 requires the download of a client -- the initial download is of a 8mb installer. Navigation and gameplay are accomplished via mouse and keyboard input.

Overview: Wizard101 is an online virtual world with a 3D client. The title allows users to customize outfits and accessories for their wizard avatars, play puzzles and mini-games, adopt magical pets, and learn from seven different schools of magic -- collecting cards, which can then use to engage in card duels alongside and against other players.

Payment Method: Wizard101 is free to play, but also offers a subscription, starting at $9.95 for one month's access, allowing access to more areas and features. Lower rates are available for families and/or longer term commitments.

Key Features:
- Teen/Tween-orientated 3D client-based virtual world
- "Harry Potter"-esque theme
- Collectible card game battles
- Customizable avatar, pets
- Safe environment with moderated chat (free text chat only available to subscribers with parental permission)

Useful Links:
Wizard101 Wiki
Wizard101 Central (fansite/forum)

The last time we mentioned OGPlanet's side-scrolling MMO La Tale it was in mid-September after the title launched -- and they announced that prepaid game cards for the title would be available in Blockbuster.

Since then the title has been rumbling along in its position as (perhaps) the most direct competitor to MapleStory currently available, and now OGPlanet has announced that they are running, throughout the month of October, "Beast Bingo" -- an unusual promotion where players must take screenshots of their character standing with 25 different monsters (thankfully, one at a time) and then arrange those in a 5x5 grid.

Once the players have their boards, they can compete in Beast Bingo games hosted in-game by La Tale game masters on Halloween night and the following day.

"La Tale is a unique game in so many ways," commented producer Ross Park. "We feel that our events should be equally unique and exciting. Beast Bingo has already received a huge response from the community, and it should be a fun, memorable Halloween celebration."

It sounds like a slightly complex proposition to us, but if you're interested, you can find out more at the La Tale website and forums.

Market research and consulting company Parks Associates has just released details of their new report, Virtual Worlds: the Internet of Avatars, and the main revelation is that the industry is to see incredible growth within the next five years -- reaching 33 million registered users by 2013.

According to their announcement, the report from Parks Associates details "the evolution of the virtual world value chain, profiles leading companies, examines industry and consumer trends and dynamics, forecasts market growth, and offers recommendations to large media companies, technology companies, consumer brands, marketers, and Internet companies."

Explaining the report, Yuanzhe (Michael) Cai, Director, Digital Media and Gaming, Parks Associates said "3D virtual world platform companies, world operators, and full-service agencies form the core of the virtual world ecosystem, providing services to consumers, media companies, advertisers, and enterprises, but content and application developers and service providers are becoming increasingly important.”

“Without appealing content and applications, virtual worlds are nothing but empty shopping malls,” Cai continued. “The industry needs to move beyond its obsession with user-generated content and make 3D virtual worlds more interesting to average consumers.”

Artix Entertainment are a developer based in Land O' Lakes, Florida who until now had worked in single-player browser-based RPGS. They've been slowly gaining in competency -- from humble beginnings with AdventureQuest through DragonFable and MechQuest – and have now announced the release of its first browser-based MMORPG, AdventureQuest Worlds.

based on their first RPG, AdventureQuest Worlds features real-time combat, weekly quests and customizable armour/weapons, plus players have the freedom to change their character classes at any time.

According to Artix, their games have had over 60 million accounts in the past five years.

“Our Beta testers’ positive responses indicate our move into MMOs was the right decision,” says Daniel Vasile, Business Development Manager of Artix Entertainment. “We’re especially excited that AdventureQuest Worlds may be the first MMO developed by a small, family-owned game development studio. Our project shows MMO developers and players worldwide that a small, truly dedicated team can create a quality browser-based MMOG without spending millions of dollars.”

San Jose-based online game publisher OnNet USA are most remarkable because they hold the publishing rights to Square-Enix's Concerto Gate in North America -- which is still currently in closed beta, but they've just announced a partnership with GMG Entertainment to offer prepaid game cards for their online portal GamesCampus at Target stores across the USA.

The cards, available in $10 and $25 denominations, hold "Campus Cash", GamesCampus' virtual currency used in all the company's Free-To-Play games, which include Asda Story, Shot Online, Manga Fighter and Xiah Rebirth.

The Campus Cash can be used to purchase in-game items via micro-transactions.

"These Prepaid Cards are a welcome addition to our payment options and offer our young, under-banked segment of players a good way to enhance their gaming experience through the purchase of in-game virtual items. We know there's a huge pent-up demand for a cash-based prepaid payment option amongst these players, and we are happy to be able to finally give them what they've been asking for!" said Jay Winship, Vice President of Business Development for GamesCampus.

Mythic Entertainment's Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is off to a strong start, but it isn't going to cause panic in Blizzard's offices any time soon, says Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian.

The recently-launched challenger has hit 750,000 registered users, a small fraction of World of Warcraft's user base but an impressive figure in the MMO genre at large. But, as Sebastian notes in a research report, "conversations at BlizzCon suggest limited interest in the title among core WoW users."

And the analyst only sees things getting better for Blizzard's behemoth, with an additional million subscribers expected to sign up over the next year, in part due to the significant growth of the game in Asia.

"Our informal survey of WoW users at the show suggests little WoW fatigue among the game’s most loyal user base, we believe due in part to the pending release of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion pack," he writes. "As previously discussed, the pending launch of WoLK should provide a near-term boost in revenues and potentially in subscriber count."

Along with the new expansion, Lazard expects parent company Activision Blizzard to see strong revenue from Treyarch's Call of Duty: World at War and Neversoft's Guitar Hero: World Tour. The firm did not comment on whether Activision may be attempting to capitalize on World of Warcraft's success by including the word "World" in as many of its titles as possible.

Sebastian was impressed with the recent BlizzCon event, noting that "while there was no significant headline announcement from the show, there was also no shortage of enthusiasm among attendees, with very long lines to play demos of upcoming titles." Some 20,000 fans turned up for the show.

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

We first covered Brescia, Italy-based Koinup just over a year ago, and since then we've been keeping up with the unusual, "meta" social network, dedicated entirely to its users virtual (rather than real-world) lives.

The company recently announced plans to expand its presences in Second Life, and so we took the opportunity to talk to co-founder and CEO of Koinup, Pierluigi Casolari, and grill him on the reasons for a social network for virtual world users to exist!

Why create a social network for virtual world users?

Pierluigi Casolari: The first reason is about interoperability. More and more people are managing multiple virtual worlds accounts, and more users are seeing the utility of "virtual world cross plaftorms" or "meta-aggregators" for virtual worlds users.

The second reason is to create a new web-portal for virtual worlds. We started to work on this some months ago. Not all the internet behaviors are easily deployed within 3d interfaces. For example, gathering information is a process that is quite difficult in 3d environments, but at the same time it is quite trivial by browsing web pages.

Following this and other ideas we have start to building a web 2.0 portal for all virtual world locations. Presently, only Second Life is supported, but we are actively working for expanding the list. The goal of the project is to give Koinup visitors a preview of what virtual worlds are, what the most popular hotspots are and where you could find your friends online.

Doesn't it miss the point? After all, aren't people already happy socializing in the individual virtual worlds, and outside of that happy to socialize using Facebook, etc.?

PC: The syncronous communication and the immersivity of virtual worlds make them excellent for some aspects, but not for all. "Metaverse" citizens need web hangouts for sharing their content, their opinions, to build their network of friends, for uploading artwork.

Mainstream social networks are restrictive with virtual world content and people. Facebook bans people that are suspected of using "fantasy" or virtual names, and Flickr, in the past, has tried to ghettoize photos created within virtual worlds.

If virtual life and what happen in virtual worlds are to make sense, they need proper and specific tools, which we are creating for Koinup.

We've just started an Online World Atlas investigation of Wizard101, with the next part on Friday, but in the meantime KingsIsle Entertainment has popped us a line to let us know that the teen/tween virtual world is currently featuring its Halloween themed content, with " three Haunted Towers and eleven adventures."

Players can take part by finding a scarecrow called Jack Hollow in the Wizard City Commons, and they can also visit "Spooky Bob" in the Wizard City shopping district to find limited edition items such as costumes, and accessories.

The limited edition content is available to both free-to-play and subscription users, and will run until " shortly after October 31st."

This news follows the recent announcement from OGPlanet, where they revealed they were running a Halloween promotion in La Tale.

Burda:ic is a Munich-based publisher of online games with a slightly strange name (yes, that colon is part of it) and they've just announced the launch of the international version of free-to-play fantasy MMORPG Florensia.

Developed by South Korean developer NetTimeSoft, Burda:ic have claimed 250,000 registered players in the open beta, and have declared that they've doubled server capacity to face demand for the launch.

They've also announced some a new feature in the game, which is a maritime MMORPG -- a Korean take on something like Pirates of the Burning Sea, then? -- the game now features a "Sealed Item System"; all equipment pieces found now have a number of seals that can be ‘released’ by specific NPCs, to bestow positive effects on the equipment.

“Although we offer Florensia free-to-play, the customer support provided by our team will be the same level of support you’d see for a typical pay-to-play MMO,” said Achim Kaspers, managing director at Burda:ic. “We are dedicated to keeping our players happy by listening to their concerns and providing a wealth of content with regular expansions.”

New Second Life news from their blog; according to a recent post, in roughly a month the virtual world is to be available -- completely translated -- in German, French, Korean and Japanese, thanks to the work of Second Life residents working in tandem with a "small number" of staff members.

The world is also to be partially localized into Spanish, Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese and Danish by that point, with "Italian and Dutch" to come next. The translation includes not only the Second Life "viewer" but also the site's web pages, including Knowledge Base articles.

According to the announcement, the project is in preparation for a new translation portal which is to open "later this year," that is to contain several new localization tools to "easier, quicker and better quality translations, not only for German and French but for many more languages."

"The goal is a high quality Second Life viewer and website available to all residents communicating in each language," continued the post from Robin Linden. "What makes this project successful is the extraordinary effort of the international community of Second Life resident volunteers."

It's been a little while since we've reported any news from Club Penguin -- though we did cover co-creator Lane Merrifield's keynote at Austin GDC -- and something worth mentioning is their upcoming toy collection.

An expansion of the virtual into the real world, the toys have suddenly become a bit more interesting, as a post on the community blog has revealed that each Penguin is to come with a "coin" that includes a code which will unlock special items on the users' Club Penguin account.

The unlockables are to include "access to a lot of all-time favorite items from Club Penguin that haven't been around for a long time AND even some new, never before seen exclusive items," according to the post.

The toys are to be available from October 24th in North American Toys R Us stores, Disney stores and theme parks, and the Club Penguin Shop online.

A couple of interesting reports worth mentioning:

First up, Virtual Worlds Management has announced the numbers of their study of investments in virtual world companies by venture capitalists and media fims, revealing that over $148.5 million dollars were invested in 12 virtual world companies in the third quarter of 2008 alone -- including, for example, $11 million in Gaia Online and $5 million for the Hollywood Interactive Group (working on MyHollywood.com).

The report also stated that the total investment so far for 2008 is $493 million(!).

Similarly interesting is a new report from Dubit Research (via Virtual Worlds Forum) which shows that 73% of British 7-12 year olds use a virtual world -- with 43% in Club Penguin, 27% in Habbo, and only 8% using a virtual world that isn't one of the top ten 10 -- but it's worth noting that the top ten includes the BBC's Adventure Rock, MapleStory and RuneScape.

The entire report (in PDF) is very worth reading if you want to know about the virtual world habits of British Teens -- but particularly worth noting is that the gender split is almost meaningless, virtual world use increases until age 10 and seems to decrease after that, and the details on advertising in virtual worlds – while 45% of children didn't notice/remember advertising, most ranked brand presence in the world very positively.

Lord of the Rings Online developer Turbine has often suggested in recent months its strong interest in bringing its massively multiplayer titles to consoles. And the Massachusetts-based company's recent West Coast studio launch seems aimed at gathering more developers with the chops to aid such an effort.

"We have a number of new things under wraps that we’re not ready to talk about yet, but I don’t think its any secret to anybody that we have a very significant console initiative," Turbine CEO Jim Crowley tells Gamasutra.

"And we were just recently talking about the continued expansion, creation and launch of our social network that sits on top of each of our game worlds, and the importance of that to our games and community," he adds. "There is obviously an extensive pool of game console and social networking [development] talent on the West Coast."

In addition to LotRO, the company also continues to operate its Dungeons and Dragons Online and long-running Asheron's Call. Although Crowley prefers to say that Turbine's approach to the MMO space complements, rather than competes with World of Warcraft and upstart challenger Warhammer Online, he does feel the company's approach is different in a few key ways, most notably what it calls an "emergent Web 2.0 focus," in addition to its attention to multiplatform development.

We've mentioned PayByCash multiple times on the site before, because they provide payment systems -- including a prepaid card sold in stores -- to a variety of virtual worlds, including everything from Age of Conan to Puzzle Pirates, and they have recently announced PaxGuard, a system to reduce payment fraud-related expenses and lost revenue.

PaxGuard uses "a suite of detection rules and fraud detection technologies," to determine the risk of fraud, and is configurable by developers/publishers based on their perceived level of risk. "Merchants can set their risk tolerance as low as they like and not turn away legitimate, paying customers," explained the release.

In addition, PaxGuard offers "on-demand reports" to allow users to examine the level of fraud they are experiencing.

"Proprietary elements of PaxGuard have long been used by PayByCash to cut fraud rates for our merchants," said Kevin Higgins, president of PayByCash. "Now we've layered in technology from strategic partners with complementary approaches to fighting fraud. What we have now is something remarkably effective and comprehensive, a phenomenally powerful product. It's the only fraud protection solution that protects merchants across a broad range of payment methods. This is critical in an environment where more merchants are accepting numerous payment methods."