Linden Lab, Second Life: How to make real money in a virtual project

    In August, I managed to go on excursions to a number of California companies along with RMA . The organizers have already talked about the inner kitchen of several large Internet companies on their blog, and I would also like to contribute. In my opinion, Second Life is a good example of how "independent developers" can help develop the service, and at the same time make money on it. However, it’s worth considering that I am retelling the version of the company’s representatives, and the reality may differ. The opinions of those who personally came across this "game", I will be glad to hear in the comments.

    So, Second Life is not a bunch of teenagers or people without real life, seeking asylum in virtual reality. The bulk of the “population” of SL are people between the ages of 30 and 40, mainly interested in the economic component of the game (since the gaming component is not there as such), and trying to try themselves as entrepreneurs. The number of virtual entrepreneurs in SL is higher than in ordinary life, but the percentage of successful enterprises is approximately the same as in reality.

    A few figures :
    - A million users log in to the system monthly, a total of 22 million accounts are registered
    - 40 million hours per month users spend online total
    - 50% of them are women
    — 40% пользователей из США, остальные преимущественно из Западной Европы
    — 250 000 виртуальных товаров продается ежедневно, это крупнейшая игровая экономика в мире
    — оборот игры в 2009 году вырос на 60% и составил 567 миллионов (около 50 миллионов долларов ежемесячно)
    — «Взрослая» часть игры была вынесена полтора года назад в отдельный сектор (аналог квартала красных фонарей), и теперь занимает не более 12% общего времяпрепровождения пользователей онлайн
    — Наиболее успешный предприниматель в игре – учительница из Германии, которая вовремя занялась скупкой и перепродажей игровой земли, и теперь зарабатывает около миллиона долларов в год. Несколько месяцев назад даже попала, говорят, на обложку Business Week
    - In the second quarter of 2010, the turnover amounted to 156 million dollars, and sales of goods - in the amount of 29 million dollars; users extracted $ 13.8 million from the system - this money was sent to their accounts minus 3.5% for converting from game currency to real
    - Average transaction price - 1 USD; game currency - Linden Dollar
    - The game features almost 5 billion virtual items (goods), almost all of which are created by users. The most promising way to start a business in SL is for a programmer with skills in creating animation.

    Mostly, users spend money on domestic games (40%), improving their appearance (30%), furniture (10%), as well as on land, various services and pets (20%). Of the games, virtual pets (the analogue of tamagotchi), the game of vampires “bite a friend” and the analogue of the “one-armed bandit” are now the most popular. Gambling and banking services in SL are prohibited due to the peculiarities of US law, therefore, only those games are allowed where success depends not only on luck, but also on certain skills.
    Among successful services, the first place, of course, is the “escort service” in various varieties.

    Initially, the game’s economy is based on the fact that the owners of the game sell land and a minimum set of goods and services to everyone who wants it. Then the users themselves fill the world: create clothes, furniture, buildings - and receive money from other users for this, as well as companies. These enterprises compete among themselves, carrying out various actions and dumping, all as in real life.

    In addition, offline businesses come to Second Life to create virtual representations there. Formally, the owners do not take money for this, but such a company needs its own “virtual office”, which means that it has to rent or buy game land, an office, and this takes real money. In addition, these companies, by promoting their products and creating products within the game, help creators diversify their content. Here, in turn, again there is a niche for independent developers: their experience and skills in creating and distributing virtual products are extremely necessary for "advertisers".

    The largest real business representative in SL is IBM. He owns several local islands, the company uses virtual three-dimensional space for a virtual tour of products and technologies, and for training. And Evian had an interesting example of the promotion: the company installed its own “machines” in the virtual city, in which it was possible to get new, beautifully shimmering skin (in terms of improving the appearance of the “avatar” in the game, it is skin, complexion that is especially valued). As if hinting at the fact that "if you drink our water in real life, your skin will glow with health."

    In addition to large commercial companies, non-profit organizations and government organizations are also represented in SL. For example, Canada’s border service used 3D simulations in SL to train their employees so they could pass an internal test (and performance improved by 60%), and the US military could improve communication between their five disparate divisions.

    This is how the Canadian simulation works:



    Overall, Linden Lab prides itself on being a very inexpensive way of 3D modeling and some companies use machinema films as presentations. For example, investors need to illustrate a future project that exists only on paper. You can collect pictures in a ppt presentation, or you can quickly and inexpensively shoot 3D video - it looks more solid (although the graphics, IMHO, are still not so hot).

    Palomar West Hospital Future Presentation Example:



    Also, company representatives like to hold corporate meetings in SL. A virtual meeting is better than talking on Skype, in their opinion, for two reasons: firstly, it allows you to unite a large number of participants; secondly, the effect of presence, according to them, is more pronounced. Andrea, who appeared before us, has three different “avatars” in the game. For meetings, she most often chooses a small hippo. He says it’s very convenient on his behalf to tell people any unpleasant news. It is simply impossible to take offense at him!

    By the way, she also said that they conducted a study according to which people whose avatar in SL was more slim than they themselves in real life - began to lose weight over time. But the color of the eyes for their avatars, users usually give the same that they have in real life. In particular, the small hippo has brown eyes.

    There are no “Chinese farmers” in the game, and there is practically no inflation either, because unlike most other games, money is almost impossible to get from nowhere (except, perhaps, some starting money). In SL, you can get money, like karma on Habré, only if some other person wants to give them to you. For something specific. Therefore, people, just like in real life, rent premises, open stores, and hire other people. From the game itself, you can chat on Twitter and Facebook, so even in virtual reality, the lazy store seller can ignore the buyer and chat with friends.

    Initially, the creators of the game wanted to establish only very basic rules, so that the participants actually created the game, and the crowd controlled it. Unfortunately, users did not always behave well in relation to each other (“who would have thought ?!”), and the creators had to introduce additional rules. For example, children under 18 are not allowed to play SL; a separate Teen Second Life has been created for them. If administrators find that a minor is playing on the "adult" account, they will be deleted.

    Now the creators of the game have conceived several global changes, including simplifying the use of the game, increasing productivity, solving problems with firewalls of individual user groups. They also puzzle over what to do with the fact that the amount of purchased land is growing, but the population density is not keeping pace with it (the population is crowded in large cities). Now the amount of virtual land in terms of square kilometers occupies almost the territory of Rhode Island, which, although the smallest state in the United States, is still large enough for the virtual world.

    Despite the popularity of SL in different countries, localization is considered time-consuming and expensive, so the creators of the game rely on the users themselves in this. Fortunately, there are enough enthusiasts. Not so long ago, company representatives say that users organized a convention, they paid for everything - 800 people participated. They discussed the prospects of SL, new ideas, in general: “if you play SL, you probably know some things even better than we do, the developers. At least, some of our users say so: we supposedly have no idea what we are doing. ” The company itself employs only 250 people, of which about half are technical specialists, of which two-thirds are developers, and another third are testers. The office is a classic for an IT company in San Francisco: a huge open space with columns, “cubes” and pipes under the ceiling.

    Dialogue in the framework of the Q&A session:
    - You know, a friend told us here at Yahoo that you actually die as a project.
    - Hmm, it is curious that they told you it in Yahoo. Who would say that!

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