Press Release Story

SAN FRANCISCO – Who said video games are just for kids? Obviously not the people at Linden Lab, who launched their new product, Second Life Enterprise, on Nov. 4, a beta program designed to provide a private virtual meeting place for companies and organizations.

Second Life Enterprise is designed to be similar to original version with respect to foundational technology. The new version offers identical user interface and 3D interaction, and will also include the spatial voice feature to simulate real-life communication. The Enterprise version also offers one billion virtual items, and is flexible and customizable for each organization. The primary difference though, between the new product and the original, is that each organization has its own server where they can interact outside of the public eye.

“Virtual worlds have the potential to provide a safer, more cost effective approach to some of the Navy’s current mission areas,” said Douglas Maxwell, program technology lead for the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC).

According to a Linden Lab press release, over 1,400 organizations currently use second life to hold meetings, conduct training and prototype new technologies in a cost effective manner. Fourteen of those organizations have already made the switch to the new Beta program including IBM, NASA and the NUWC.

“The fact that major corporations such as IBM and Northrop Grumman have embraced Second Life Enterprise Beta is tremendous validation for the product and our enterprise strategy,” said Mark Kingdom, CEO of Linden Lab.

Linden Lab also announced plans to launch a marketplace to sell virtual goods. The product will be called The Second Life Work Marketplace, and is planned to be released during the first quarter of 2010. The marketplace is designed to complement Second Life Enterprise, allowing major companies as well as small businesses to unveil new products they have created behind the firewall.

“Additionally, with the Work Marketplace, Second Life Enterprises users will be able to take the single biggest advantage of working in Second Life, the breadth and quality of content, and use it in environments hosted behind their firewalls,” said Kingdom.

Second Life Enterprise will start at $55,000 which includes seven virtual regions, two conference centers and a set of standard business avatars.