Michael Jackson – now a planet!

September 22nd, 2010

MindArk has recently announced a collaborative deal with SEE Virtual Worlds to bring Michael Jackson to it’s real-world economy Entropia Universe. SEE has recently struck a deal with the Michael Jackson Estate to publish Planet Michael which will offer fan around the world the opportunity to celebrate the King of Pop through interactive gaming and a unique social experience.

Planet Michael is under development, with a planned release date sometime next year, and features a space theme with elements draw from Michael’s music, life, and humanitarian causes that were important to Jackson. Planned are entire continents themed around Jacksons’ life that are aimed at longtime fans, placing them in a familiar, yet unknown, environment.

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“When we first approached the Estate and talked about creating Planet Michael, one of our primary goals wasto build an interactive environment where fans from all over the world come together to affirm Michael’s life-long dedication to fostering global friendships,” said Martin Biallas, CEO of SEE Virtual Worlds. “In building a space worthy of those global connections, we envisioned a magical, enjoyable place that will capture that zest for fun and life that was at Michael’s very core. Throughout his extensive career, the King of Pop was well-known for his visionary contributions to music, dance, fashion, entertainment and philanthropy, and it was critical that we somehow incorporate all of those elements into the game.”

Planet Michael will be the first world published by SEE Virtual Worlds for Entropia Universe. Staying inline with Entropia’s play mechanism, Planet Michael will be free-to-download and be subscription free. The Entropia Universe monetization module will be in place, allowing players to devote their time to specific professions, and in some case, able to donate their earning to charitable causes.

“No artist unified the world like Michael Jackson, so it is fitting that in Planet Michael his fans will be able to join together in such a unique way online to celebrate his music, his artistry and his devotion to helping those in need,” said John Branca, co-executor for The Estate of Michael Jackson. “Michael was always exploring creative new ways technology could enhance the experiences of his fans, and for that reason we are thrilled to be working with SEE Virtual Worlds to build a global interactive experience that befits an artist as innovative as Michael Jackson,” added John McClain, co-executor of the Estate.

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Are MindArk and ESA looking for Viper pilots?

March 23rd, 2010

MindArk, already recognized as an official bank in their home country of Sweden, and reknowned for their record breaking in-game sales via Entropia, has made the news again. This time around, the firm has completed it’s commissioned study regarding the use of online game technology for “space-related purposes” (like blasting Cylons?). The contract was awarded to MindArk in 2009 by the European Space Agency (EAS).

You’ll remember, this is not the first time that MindArk and associates have had their eyes on the stars above. In 2008, they were one of 3 finalists selected to present to NASA. The goal of the NASA project was to develop an exciting and interactive MMO educational game that would spur teens’ interest in Math and Science fields. Based on the NASA project, the EAS project, and Entropia Universes’ record sales, it would seem as though planet Earth isn’t quite enough for MindArk.

“MMO-based technology has strong ties to acquiring knowledge through discovery, collaborative problem solving and team-based learning. This is supported by the findings of the study and the project with the European Space Agency has been a great push forward for us in this area. MindArk´s interest in implementing educational content inside online games was sparked by our previous discussions with NASA about their online game plans.” said Christian Bjorkman, MindArk’s Chief Marketing Officer. “The work on the study has helped MindArk in finding new means of mixing educational content with entertainment in Entropia Universe. Working with ESA has made us ready to move on to the next level, ready to work with learning industry partners in building qualitative, engaging and top-class game content for online environments that will be both entertaining and motivating”.

The study, “Online Game Technology for Space Education and System Analysis” (read: Viper Pilot Training Manual), was conducted to analyze options for the European Space Agency in regards to using online game technology, specifically in the areas of outreach (finding Viper pilots), promotion (finding Admiral Adama), education (looking for Dr. Baltar), and collaborative engineering (those with the last name of Tyrol are encouraged to apply).

Below is MindArk’s video mock-up/presentation in a live game environment within Entropia Universe.

MindArk might not be looking to staff the next Battlestar Galactica (all references are fictional, and not intended as fact), but they are quietly building a collection of “first”s that are not only putting them down in the record books, but winning and completing studies like this. Some gaming firms are striving for more and more pixel magic, but it seems as though MindArk has found it’s own path to travel – and we all know how the road less traveled goes.

Well done MindArk folks! Based on your current track record, this author is interested to see what exciting projects you’ll be working on next.

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Planet Calypso does it again – virtual egg sold for $70k

February 9th, 2010

Just over one month after The First Planet Company saw a record breaking $330,000 sale of a virtual space station, it appears as though they’ve done it again, as the company recently announced the sale of a virtual egg for a whopping $69,696.00.

62418This past Sunday, Jon “NEVERDIE” Jacobs put his virtual egg up for public auction.  The winning bid was placed by David “Deathifier” Storey.  The Atrox Queen Egg is not a new addition to the virtual economy, as NEVERDIE originally purchased the egg in 2006 for $10,000 from a player who had received it as loot from a completed quest.  However, the story of the egg doesn’t end here, as according to Planet Calypso, eggs are bound to hatch, and thousands of players are now left speculating if the outcome will be worth the high price tag.  In other words, is Deathifier set to double his investment, or, quite literally end up with egg on his face.

If Storey’s name rings a bell, you may remember that he’s the current owner of Planet Calypso virtual destination “Treasure Island” for $27,500 in 2004.  It’s reported that Storey recouped his investment within the year, and continues to reap profits from his hunting and mineral rights fees imposed upon anyone wishing to visit his property.

Likewise, NEVERDIE is no new comer to Planet Calypso, as he mortgaged his Miami home in 2005 to purchase a virtual Asteroid for $100,000.  Jacobs then went on to convert the Astroid into a nightclub, aptly named, NEVERDIE.  Jacobs’ $100k investment is currently valued at over $1 million.  Both Jacobs and Storey have been featured in the Guinness Book of World Records for their virtual world purchases.

“The sale of the Atrox Queen Egg is another example of the incredibly unique world and  economy we offer in our game. While you don’t need thousands of dollars, or even tens of dollars to play Planet Calypso, it’s sales like these that truly separate our virtual world from any other on the planet,” said Marco Behrmann, CEO of First Planet Company.   “We are introducing a new quest system soon and the epic price tag of this Egg, which was a quest treasure itself, will energize a new generation of virtual pioneers looking to make their mark.”

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Record $330k buys Planet Calypso virtual space station

January 4th, 2010

Score another record for Sweden based virtual world developer MindArk. The First Planet Company, a part of MindArk, and creators and developers of Planet Calypso set out last year to put one of it’s biggest offerings to date up on the auction block: a fully functional (virtual) space station. The final selling price? 3.3 million PED – Project Entropia Dollars, with an exchange rate of 10:1, making the real world price a staggering $330,000.

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The winner is one ‘Buzz “Erik” Lightyear. Buzz now holds the property rights to Crystal Palace inside the Planet Calypso world. Granted, a $330k purchase for a virtual property might seem a bit steep to some, as this purchase has raised the bar substantially on private investments in virtual properties, but it’s not without precedent. Back in 2004, David Storey paid $26,500 for a virtual plot of undeveloped land in Project Entropia, while a year later Jon Jacobs dropped $100k on a Project Entropia virtual resort. And let’s not forget about Anshe Chung becoming a real life millionaire via Second Life in 2006.

2009 saw the rise of free-to-play gaming, and a multitude of monetization options. Microtransactions, virtual offers, etc., we’ve seen quite a bit of activity in the sector as of late. With this said, it’s almost a bit surprising to see Mashable author Ben Parr baffled by the sale. Yes, it’s a bit off the beaten path, but given the staggering amounts of revenue social gaming companies such as Zynga are pulling down each month, is it really so unreasonable to treat virtual properties as real world investments? Yes, there are a million and a half unforeseeable variables that could turn your virtual investment into bunk over night….but isn’t that the case with any real world investment? As a point of comparison, we hear about venture capitalists dropping massive amounts of cash into new media companies or web or app development firms. These are physical ‘real world’ investments, but they (more or less) operate on the same platform – all tied to a platform that arguably does or does not exist. With that said, given the economic climate, who’s to say that a real world investment is more concrete than a virtual one? Who’s to say the virtual investment isn’t the safer bet?

Lightyear could be poised to make a killing. Planet Calypso boasts the world’s largest virtual economy, and Buzz now has dibs on one of the biggest, and after the sale, most probably one of the most popular destinations for Planet Calypso players. Within his virtual world within a virtual world, Buzz has complete control over tax rates, what will be sold, to whom, and at what price. With an investment of this size, it’s a forgone conclusion that Lightyear probably already has a virtual world business model in place, and perhaps a team in place to capitalize on the new real estate. If Erik’s investment in Crystal Palace is a success, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a small niche crop of investors that would be willing to take the same leap. If this is the case, the ‘backburner’ secondary, or player-to-player, market could see a massive surge in popularity.

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Planet Calypso and Florida State set out to study virtual buying habits

November 23rd, 2009

Swedish developer First Planet Company (part of MindArk) – makers of the virtual world Planet Calypso recently announced that they’ve partnered with researchers at the Florida State University College of Business as well as the Stockholm School of Economics to study the far reaching implications of virtual buying preferences in MMO’s and Virtual Worlds.

CalypsoBoasting the world’s largest real money economy within an MMORPG, Planet Calypso is the perfect setting for a study that will primarily focus on determining if a player’s experience with a product in a virtual world influences their intention to purchase a products and how that experience can affect the brand – either positive or negative.

Slated to commence during the upcoming ‘Miss Calypso’ contest, the study will seek to understand how the mental state of a virtual world user influences his/her attitude toward a product, and measure the effectiveness of in-game/world placement has on either real world or virtual purchase of said item. The ultimate goal of the study will help scientists better understand the mental states of players, and how these ‘moods’ affect consumer behavior, with an obvious focus on purchasing power. Results are expected in Q1 2010.

“Despite the increasing attention that virtual worlds have seen with respect to marketing by companies, little is known about the perception of products within virtual worlds. Even less is known about how a consumer’s cognitive state resulting from an experience with a product in a virtual world may influence his or her intention to purchase a product,” said Rob Hooker, a doctoral candidate who is conducting an independent study in the College of Business at The Florida State University. “This study is the first chance to determine if people will buy products in real life that they see on avatars, and what influences them to buy those products for their own avatars as well.”

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MindArk receives real world banking license

March 20th, 2009

MindArk and their wholly owned subsidiary Mind Bank AB made virtual world history earlier this week when the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen) granted a license to ‘conduct banking activities’ in MindArk’s virtual world(s) Entropia Universe.  This license officially sanctifies Mind Ark AB to act as a central bank within the Entropia Universe and conduct real world banking, and all associated financials for users.  This announcement follows the January announcement of MindArk launching their first planet company to oversee Planet Calypso.

“This is an exciting and important development for the future of all virtual worlds being built, using the Entropia Platform. Together with our partner planet owner companies we will be in a position to offer real bank services to the inhabitants of our virtual universe.” Says MindArk CEO Jan Welter Timkrans.

Again, MindArk is the first virtual world that has incorporated a real world bank into it’s systems.  Millions of transactions can be prcessed by the bank for further transfer to MindArk and the virtual universe.  Mind Bank says that they are also planning to offer selected banking services to customers on the conventional (read: real world) market.

So if running an MMOG wasn’t enough for the growing virtual world developer, they’ve now jumped into the unbelievably complex world of financial institutions.  Fighting fraud and microtransaction/monetization leakage is a topic that even the most savvy in-game monetization experts battle everyday.  MindArk is now taking this issue to an entirely new level by adding financial services.  Granted, they’ve segmented this operation into it’s own free standing business, but it is still plugged into the entire operation.  Since MindArk is the first Virtual World to brave these waters, they’re clearly blazing a trail, and my guess is will be watched with eagle eyed scrutiny.  If they get it wrong, the fingers are sure to be pointed in their direction very quickly.  If they get it right – well, now that’s something to study, isn’t it?

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MindArk launches First Planet Company to oversee Planet Calypso

January 9th, 2009

Entropia Universe virtual world platform developers MindArk have recently announced the creation of First Planet Company AB to oversee the operation, development and marketing of the MMORPG “Planet Calypso”.

Former CIO of MindArk, Marco Behrmann will take the reigns as CEO and Creative Director at First Planet Company.  He started his career with MindArk in 2002 working as a concept writer, game designer, community director and information officer (umm…when does this man sleep?).  Prior to MindArk, Behrmann worked with lifestyle magazine Codex in the role of Marketing Director, as well as Lead Designer and PR Manager at the game studio, Computer House.  Adding to his credits, Behrmann is also a co-founder of one of Sweden’s most popular tabletop role-playing game studios, Neogames AB.  If this wasn’t enough, he’s also authored over 20 books.  Again – does this man sleep?

“My vision is to supply the resources needed to allow the creative team the freedom and time to create interesting short- and long-term storylines, enhance and polish game-play, add role-playing aspects, and cater to events,” says Marco Behrmann. “My role and objective is to bring and maintain a coherency to the Planet Calypso history and storyline. We are dedicated to achieving our over-arching goal of making Planet Calypso a truly outstanding Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game.”

The appointment of Behrmann and creation of First Planet Company AB is a win-win situation for MindArk.  This new company will allow Behrmann and his team to focus solely on the development of the end-user experience for MindArk’s popular Planet Calypso MMO, while at the same time MindArk itself now has a new source of available resources that can be dedicated solely to the development of the award winning 3D online virtual universe.

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MindArk brings Entropia Universe to NASA

October 29th, 2008

MindArk has recently been selected by NASA as one of three finalists to present to Entropia Universe to NASA Learning Technologies and the Innovative Program office on November 7th at the Goddard Space Flight Center.  The goal of the project is to create an exciting and interactive MMO educational game to enhance the real world education of teens in high school and college in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields.  Saber Astronautics, Nocturnal Entertainment, and Big World and Virtual Heroes and Project Whitecard will also be presenting.

As we talked about in the e-for-all in Los Angeles wrap up, Entropia Universe is a proprietary tech platform for interoperable virtual worlds.  Each world within the Entropia Universe has it’s own unique planet and associated characteristics.  These varied free-to-play worlds each contain secure micro-transaction marketplaces, highly developed media (with a CryEngine 2 graphics overhaul currently in the works), transaction methods for both real and virtual items, and full MMO features including social interaction between players.  Players spend PEDs, the Entropia in-game currency, on customizing and equipping their avatars at an exchange rate of 10:1, PED:$ respectively.

Swedish Based developers MindArk have been working on the Entropia Universe for over 10 years at a cost of over $40M.  Hitting the streets in 2003, MindArk’s flagship planet, Calypso has been turning a profit since 2004, and served at a fine-tuning platform for further planet developments.  The Entropia Universe now boasts approximately 780,000 registered accounts from over 200 countries globally.  In 2007, the Universe was responsible for over $400M of secondary market (player-to-player) trading.

“We are thrilled and honored to present Entropia Universe to NASA and to have been selected from over 100 interested parties which were present at the NASA MMO Workshop in April. It is an acknowledgement of our concept and progress, and shows the versatility of the platform we have spent a decade developing,” says MindArk CEO Jan Welter Timkrans.

MindArk Director of Special Projects, Christian Bjoerkman, continues, “this opportunity to build the NASA MMO is very much in line with our strategy to enhance the learning aspects of the Entropia Universe Platform. It is a perfect way for us to work in collaboration with top academics and scholars to create a stimulating, challenging and educational experience.”

NASA Learning Technologies sent out feelers at a workshop back in April in order to evaluate which companies and projects would be best suited to their desire to create a STEM-based MMO title.  Their goal is to create a fun, interactive and educational game that will enhance NASA’s educational goals.

To learn more about the STEM-MMO project, visit NASA at: http://ipp.gsfc.nasa.gov/mmo/
To learn more about MindArk visit them at: http://www.mindark.com/
To learn more about Entropia Universe visit them at: http://www.entropiauniverse.com/

MindArk Entropia Universe Trailer

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Microtransactions enter center stage at E for All

October 5th, 2008

The E for All expo wraps up today in Los Angeles, but not before microtransaction based games got their fair share of attention.

Top tier titles such as EverQuest, WoW, and EVE Online all have their own ingame economies, but the E for All expo gave free-to-play, microtransaction based titles a chance to shine.  Nexon American’s marketing manager Meghan Myskowski wouldn’t exactly release usage patterns since 2005 for their groundbreaking title Maple Story, but she did say that the game spearheaded the microtransaction movement in the US.

“Now, people are used to paying for virtual items,” said Myskowski. “Virtual life has changed substantially.”

Another spotlighted game is Mindark’s Entropia Universe.  Originally launched in 2004 as Project Entropia, they now have a registered user count clocking in around the 800,000 mark, with only about 40 percent of users registered in the US.  MindArk says that since it’s inception, approximately $400 million worth of transactions have occurred.  Entropia’s in game currency, the PED has an exchange rate of 1:10 – $:PED.  However, in game items do not see a real wold conversion factor, in so much as a special coat may cost $1700 (and at that real world price, it had better have a Gucci label attached to it).

MindArk is already making preparations to raise their profile by implementing the new CryEngine 2 , which promises even more photorealistic game play.  The CryEngine update is expected to release in early 2009.

President of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, Joseph Olin says, “Most people playing in these persistent world environments are building their character. In E.V.E., third party brokers trade currencies in virtual worlds. Nexon has shown across all of their games that if you have the right balance of in-game economies and real world value, consumers are happy to spend some money there.”

Olin’s position on the business model as a whole is slightly biased towards producers and not players.  “Interactive entertainment companies are looking for ways to monetize their investment. The changing nature of PC entertainment software distribution, and the advent of console entertainment systems, has changed what software entertainment companies can do. You can’t sell boxed entertainment anymore. And people who are playing games aren’t always playing them on PCs anymore.”

Not just relying on microtransactions in MMO’s, Olin quickly turns his attention to the rise of music based games, specifically the microtransaction  model in Guitar Hero and Rock Band.  “Downloadable content and microtransactions for console based games are on the rise–look at Guitar Hero and Rock Band, where people anticipate downloadable Tuesdays, and you see huge numbers, half-a-million people downloading a song.”

Summing up the industry Olin adds, “consumers have so many different paths and choices to make, that the traditional business model of the consumer buying from a store, those walls are crumbling because everything is in real-time, and everything is connected.”

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