This past Friday, Linden Labs, creators of the virtual world Second Life, announced that they’d successfully completed the acquisition of Swedish Firm Enemy Unknown. The Swede’s jewel-in-the-crown Avatars United is also now a part of Linden Labs, and is a social network for users of multiple virtual worlds.

Currently, the site supports a number of virtual worlds, including popular online titles such as World of Warcraft and EVE Online, and according to Linden Labs CEO Mark Kingdon, they will continue to do so. “We’re committed to keeping this ideal of a place where avatars from multiple worlds and games can come together.”

So what does this have to do with Second Life you might ask? Well, first and foremost, Second Life is supported within Avatars United, as well as a number of other virtual worlds. However, over the past year, we’ve seen a number of advancements that point directly to Linden Labs’ entry to the social networking scene. They rolled out the web-based dashboard, which included some social networking (type) features, but didn’t really go the distance. A little bit down the line in 2009, recently hired “conversation manager” Wallace Linden posted an article relating to managing multiple Internet identities, yet another signal that Linden Labs have been keenly watching what’s going on around them. In other words, they’re keen on the power of content sharing that social networking platforms provide, but don’t really want to commit to a “real name” based platform; one that might compromise a virtual world resident’s “real world” privacy.

However, with this in mind, Linden Labs have found themselves in a bit of a bind. With so many online destinations integrating cross-login possibilities, Facebook Connect, Twitter, OpenID, etc., Linden would be foolish not to offer users the same functionality. This, in turn, then opens up the “real world – real name” privacy concerns. Addressing this issue, Linden Labs states, “We are not going to force anyone to reveal any private or personal information. But for those who want to connect their various online identities, we do want to offer that option.”

Real names or not, Avatars Unlimited is an interesting, although perhaps a bit late to the party, platform. With the rise of other social networking sites that Second Life users general flock to, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, etc., can Linden Labs really provide a platform enticing enough to draw these users away from already established giants? Avatars Unlimited is also nothing new in concept or premise, as I’ve been testing Raptr.com since Christmas. Noting the strong similarities between the two, I put Avatars Unlimited through minor functions (account creation, login, application installation, etc.). and my personal experience in a word was: meh. Not only did the site move along at a snail’s pace, but I was unable to find any areas where I might enter my character and realm info, a necessary component for a number of applications (WoW Armory, for example), a definite sign of “Needs Improvement”.

What IS quite interesting about Avatars Unlimited in it’s current state is that it features a built in virtual currency system. Their own virtual currency system. Not Linden Dollars. This virtual currency may be used to present other users with virtual items via gifting (again, another tip o’ the hat to Facebook). If Linden Labs wants to maintain the support of other virtual worlds, it should be interesting to see what they do with the virtual currency platform. Do they keep it as it is, and use it only across the platform? Will the convert it all to Linden Dollars? Or…and my money is riding on this option – will they maintain the current currency and build it out, while still incentivizing users from other platforms to join the Second Life party, i.e. offer matching Linden Dollars credited to their Second Life account, or discount purchases, or special items exclusively available to Second Life players?

All in all, the acquisition makes sense for Second Life, but as the platform stands right now, Linden Labs is going to have to put a whole lot of time and effort into the project if they hope to provide a platform that can not only stand head and shoulders with current market competitors, but draw current users of alternate platforms over to the other side.