entropia universe

Rand Leeb-du Toit, CEO of Yoick, recently blogged that China is getting ready for a "virtual world onslaught".

The most public argument for this would be Cyworld China. Since launching in June 2005 they've reached 3 million subscribers and are growing by 15,000 a day. Add to this Tencent's QQ with its half a billion registered users, and you have an audience that is accustomed to purchasing virtual items and "forming deeper connections via immersive environments."

As far as virtual worlds, they have HiPiHi (often referred to as a "Second Life clone"), and the upcoming worlds from Shanda, UOneNet and Entropia. Once these worlds have established themselves, expect many more companies to join the virtual world industry.

Hot off of his interviews with PWNED RADIO and ENN, the virtual world entrepreneur Jon NEVERDIE Jacobs continues his press tour with the Australian television show 60 Minutes. You can read the transcript here and watch the video here.

While the content is nothing really earth-shattering, it does indicate one more step toward the complete mainstreaming of business in virtual worlds.

(via Entropia News)

Following the recent announcement that Mindark, makers of Entropia Universe were partnering with Chinese game developer CRD to create a massive online universe capable of sustaining up to seven million concurrent users, details of the company's plans have started to emerge. In an interview with Mindark CIO Marco Behrmann, pointed out by Raph Koster we learn the following details about the new planned virtual economy. What stands out the most, is Behrmann's point blank refusal, claming "business secrets" to give any detail whatsoever on Entropia's current concurrency figures, or provide any kind of technical information which may support the credibility of their stated target of 7M concurrent users in the new system.

• Though individual planets will vary, the basic concept for the new world is the same as the existing Entropia Universe
• The new system is part of a strategic plan ot partner with other such groups to grow the virtual universe
• Yes, they will all use a unified login. Meaning you will be able to travel between universes
• The first planets should appear mid 2008
• Mindark will NOT give away any information on current concurrency figures for it's virtual universe
• Mindark willl NOT provide any detail on how they plan to acheive seven million concurrent users, making the claim just a tad implausible
• There have been no censorship related demands from CRD

Based on those refusals to go into detail on concurrency, the only reasonable conclusion one can draw is that Mindark are full of shit.

Mindark, makers of Entropia Universe, are using their planned Chinese expansion to experiment with some new PR spin. Specifically, they're selling the virtual world as a green alternative to driving to work every day. The Swedish virtual world builder recently said:

It is estimated that the project will generate some 10,000 qualified job opportunities in China. An important aspect for this project is also the positive effects on our environment that we foresee. People will actually be able to work from home inside Entropia Universe, as many people do today, even from rural areas, thereby decreasing the amount of pollution generated by travel.

The "10,000 qualified job opportunites" seems to refer to the maximum number of people Mindark expects could possibly make a living playing in Entropia. The idea that this would decrease pollution significantly feels like a bit of a stretch, but then again, it's not the only thing people are speculating about:

Hong Kong Apple Daily newspaper predicted Friday in a full-page story virtual police will exist in the Chinese game, and that it won't allow players to protest the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, which killed hundreds of people.

Doing business in China always involves this hurdle. The political landscape being what it is often prompts lawsuits when a service hands out private information, among other censorship concerns. If anything the Entropia expansion into Asian markets will give us a sneak peek at what happens when virtual world residents express themselves, and how much the world's creators will be held responsible for.

Entropia Universe's major expansion into China is just one sign of the virtual world's explosive growth. The idea of making a living in a virtual world is already an old one, and now we're seeing the emergence of virtual world millionaires. While Anshe Chung's fame stems mostly from Second Life endeavors, in Entropia the ultimate entrepreneur is Jon "NeverDie" Jacobs.

The first mention of NeverDie's virtual world adventures hit the newswires with his purchase of an in-game asteroid for US$100,000. Since then the asteroid has been used to create "Club NeverDie", space docks, 20 massive biodomes for monster hunting, a sports arena and a shopping mall, all of which bring him income. On today's market the place would fetch a price of between US$1 and 2 million.

Of course, that's not all. He recently sold a pair of spaceships for US$19,000, and owns a few plots of land on the in-game planet Calypso. This land, like the biodomes of his asteroid, generate revenue via taxation. Land owners in Entropia Universe are able to profit automatically in this way every time somebody hunts or mines on their land.

In order to keep traffic up Jacobs is constantly promoting. Events include virtual sporting events, parties, and monster hunts. When all is said and done, his income from Entropia is around US$20,000 per month.

For budding virtual world entrepreneurs, Jacobs doesn't think it's too late to start:

“This is the golden era of virtual worlds,” he explains. “They’re going to continue to explode dramatically.”

It's an exciting time for explorers of virtual world frontiers. While NeverDie and Anshe Chung are two of the big pioneers, it's certain that they won't be the last.

Further to our story on Mindark, the company behind Entropia Universe signing a new distribution deal with Chinese company CRD, comes confirmation that the futuristic virtual world maker plans to build a network capable of sustaining 7M concurrent users in 2008. If they pull it off, it will become the largest virtual world supporting a cash economy in the world. As previously mentioned, the deal was made with Chinese company CRD, and the target population is 150M and a further $1bn in annual commerce.

The deal with Chinese game development company CRD will open up hundreds of new planets in the virtual universe.

Mindark, the company that makes futuristic virtual world Entropia Universe, have signed a deal with a Chinese company to build several Chinese specific virtual universes to be launched in 2008. According to Business Goteborg, a Gothenburg business blog, the deal was signed at a small ceremony on Friday 25th with the aim of expanding Entropia's 580,000 registered users by tapping the 150M+ Chinese gaming market.

It seems Entropia is making increasingly aggressive moves to expand. Just last week, they signed a distribution deal to put Entropia software in thousands of coffee shops and internet cafes.

Thanks darkscorp. And if you're wondering, Swedish is very similar to Danish, and Mrs 57 is of course Danish :)

Virtual worlds entrepreneur Anshe Chung, who famously became a real world millionaire through her operations in  Second Life last November, and who recently won one of four banking licenses in futuristic virtual world Entropia Universe, has asked Entropia residents to help her design the virtual bank.

After originally making her fortune in virtual real estate, Anshe Chung has been making significant steps in finance and banking recently with plans to open up inter-world trading. She says that they have plans for the Entropian bank, but would like to hear players views on what would make the perfect system, including:

• Services
• Operation details
• Differentiation
• New business
• Location

She also mentions that over a third of the shares in the bank have been sold in it's IPO over the last few days.

Entropia Universe has hooked up with Global Gaming Factory X AB to use their "Smartlaunch Direct" technology. The distribution platform is used by internet cafés and gaming centers to set up pay-by-the-minute services for net usage, and Entropia is going to be the first virtual world.

I'm not really sure that Entropia's half-million strong user base warrants the need for such ubiquitous availability. The press release's claim that Entropia is "the world's most popular virtual world" is an interesting observation as well considering World of Warcraft currently has 8 million registered, paying accounts.

Still, going on the theory that people "work in Entropia" and might be really stuck for a connection one day, it might be nice to know that you can go down to an internet café and log in for a few minutes to make a vital trade or two.

Ok... that was a big stretch.

Anshe Chung, Second Life's famous first millionaire, is to take yet another step toward what appears to be her ultimate goal: Placing herself at the center of  multiverse. After recent news of her partnership with Entropia Universe Mogul NeverDie to form the Virtual World Awards, it seems Anshe is now out to create an inter-world financial trading market which will allow residents in multiple worlds to invest their hard earned currency across virtual borders.

Mark Wallace of the excellent 3pointD blog says "It remains to be seen whether there’s much of a market for such inter-world investment" and goes on to note that it could just be a little to early for such a venture. Anshe herself is somewhat more bullish, as you'd imagine: "“At ACS we are convinced that once capital is flowing freely, people, goods and services will follow and eventually we will see incentive and pressure for the emergence of open tools and standards. It is our vision that one day even traveling across virtual worlds and taking your belongings with you should become as easy as a mouseclick.”

That's all well and good, but lets not lose site of the fact that Anshe is a very serious player in virtual worlds, and that her ultimate goal is money. Not necessarily a bad thing, but worth bearing in mind. One question that immediately springs to mind, is one of regulation. Who exactly would regulate such transactions? Theoretically, there could be an enormous flow of funds going through such a system, and a UK watchdog has already called for regulation of virtual world finance.

Certainly there are many questions left unanswered, but then like the Virtual World Awards, it's all so much virtual hot air at the moment. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens. The project is due to release early next month.

If you're trying to get a handle on what Entropia Universe, a futuristic virtual world made by MindArk, is all about, then grab a cup of coffee and work your way through this interview with Marco Behrmann, MindArk's CIO/Community director over at the MPOGD blog. It's a fairly long interview, but it will give you a great overview of the entire system, and serves as a good primer if like me, you're just starting to grok the whole Entropia deal.

NeverDie, club and real estate mogul of Entropia Universe, has joined forces with Second Life millionaire Anshe Chung in the creation of the “Virtual Worlds Academy”. The stated purpose:

The Academy is designed to promote the creative community behind the rapidly developing virtual world space by recognizing innovative achievements in virtual artistry, technology, commerce and culture.

Their first initiative is the Virtual World Awards. The awards will be an annual event, although we’re a bit hazy on what the specific categories will be. At this time no prizes have been announced either. In fact, apart from being a publicity stunt, and a way to get talented artists to apply for work with the event organizers, Chung and NeverDie aren’t really offering any incentives for participation.

Despite these missing details it should be acknowledged that this is an idea whose time has come. The virtual worlds cross over in many ways, and it’s about time that we start recognizing achievements across the entire metaverse. Further details will appear here on Metaversed as they become available.