Growth was still fairly slow, in large parts due to the $9.95 entry fee that Linden Labs was charging for new players. Additionally, Second Life added teleporting, which greatly accelerated the speed at which players could explore the world.Ī year after launch, the game had grown to about 10,000 users. This provided players with an immediate incentive to not only purchase land but build attractions on top of it, which ultimately attracted even more users. Rosedale got ahead of himself and, in late 2003, even had to lay off two-thirds of Linden Lab’s staff (from 33 down to 11).īut things took a turn for the better when, around the same time the layoffs took place, the Linden Dollar was introduced to Second Life. In the beginning, though, adoption was lackluster at best. Equipped with the necessary capital, Rosedale heavily ramped up his hiring efforts and, consequently, product development.įinally, on June 23rd, 2003, after a series of private beta releases, Second Life was unveiled to the wider public. Jeff Bezos and eBay founder Pierre Omidyar would follow soon after. In 2001, a long-time mentor and Lotus founder Mitch Kapor became Linden Lab’s first angel investor. However, with §-D video technology and networking hitting a tipping point in the early 2000s, Rosedale finally was able to convince investors to fund his idea. On top of that, broadband adoption was still at a nascent stage. For the first two years, the business, which had over a dozen employees, was completely self-funded by Rosedale himself.Īt the time, prospective investors simply didn’t believe that something so technically complex could be pulled off. He set up shop in San Francisco’s Linden Alley, which ultimately served as the basis for how he named the studio behind Second Life. Inspired by the depicted simulation in the Matrix movie and being armed with millions from his tenure at RealNetworks, he ultimately decided to move back to San Francisco (from Seattle) to build the virtual world he always dreamed of creating. However, his urge to branch out on his own ultimately proved to be greater than his desire of being an employee. Over the next few years, Rosedale stayed at RealNetworks, which ultimately went public in 1997. Rosedale, still being in his 20’s, was appointed as its Chief Technology Officer. Two years later, that company was bought by RealNetworks, a Seattle-based developer of streaming software. Not long after, he launched Freeview, a video compression technology. In 1994, after wrapping up his studies, Rosedale moved to San Francisco to immerse himself in the burgeoning world of the Valley. The proceeds from that work effectively put him through college.Īs a result of being debt-free, he was able to take some risks right out of college. Rosedale sold database systems to car dealerships and other local businesses while pursuing a degree in physics at the University of California at San Diego. On top of that, his computer savviness also allowed him to get a first taste of how it is being an entrepreneur. Classmates of his would later recall how he would rave about the inner workings of the atom bomb and other scientific breakthroughs. Rosedale, from a very young age, had been drawn to computers and science topics. Second Life, which is built and maintained by San Francisco-based Linden Labs, was launched in June 2003 by Philip Rosedale. Second Life can be accessed and played by downloading its desktop software that is available for Mac and Windows devices. Transactions are conducted through Second Life’s online marketplace. One US dollar normally gives you between 240 to 270 Linden Dollars. Moreover, players can purchase plots of land as well as objects using Second Life’s native currency called Linden Dollars. In its heyday, even companies like Coca-Cola or universities such as Harvard set up shop in Second Life.Ĭonsequently, avatars can be customized to the user’s liking, for example by altering their gender, height, hair and skin color, clothing, and more.Ĭustomizations can also be done outside of the game by using the Linden Scripting Language (with the name being based on Linden Labs, the developer behind the game). This includes communities for arts, games, sports, education, and more. There are also various groups and organizations in which users can engage in. In Second Life, players can essentially do anything that they would do in the real world, whether it’s to purchase a house, visit various attractions, or even start a family. Second Life is an online virtual world in which players create avatars of themselves and interact with other users.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |