As you’ll remember, early this month, Makena Technologies, which operated There.com for 12 years, pulled the plug and shut the virtual world down. Makena Technologies cited dwindling revenues as related to the current world economic climate. Enter stage left – Utherverse, who’s technology is involved in one way or another in over 16,000 online worlds. In less than 48 hours, Utherverse created ThereNewWorld.com.

In just under a week Utherverse garnered more than 800 former There.com users (Therians), but more importantly, Utherverse has converted approximately 50 million Therebucks to Rays (Utherverse’s currency). This conversion and introduction of an external currency supply raises a number of questions surrounding an in-game economy. Remember your basic economics: the rule of Supply and Demand. As Utherverse has taken in a massive amount of new currency (as well as digital properties, i.e. virtual goods and services), it should be interesting to see how the economic balance within the game prevails.

“That’s really the shame in all of this,” said Brian Shuster, Utherverse’s CEO. “If you spent years as a Thereian acquiring virtual goods and assets … all that just disappears.”

There.com acquired roughly $35 million in venture capital since it’s inception in 1998. On the other side of the coin, Utherverse. Which was founded in 2003, has taken the organic growth route. According to company CEO Shuster, Utherverse has registered over five million people, has around 600,000 active users, and it pulling in around 200 new registrations per day. In the finance area, Utherverse generates over $10 million in annual revenue and is currently experiencing an annual growth rate of 25%. No word if the new comers from There.com are factored into this growth.

While Utherverse’s main IP is a freely distributed software platform, the main revenue generator is VIP subscriptions that allow virtual world developers better tools for designing virtual worlds. In addition, the company licenses out it’s technology to businesses, online advertising firms, and renting virtual real estate, as well is utilizing a microtransaction income method via virtual goods sales.

Since all of Utherverse’s ‘child’ virtual worlds are based on the same platform, residents of one world can freely move to another.

Looking forward, Shuster compares Utherverse’s network of virtual worlds akin to a 3D version of the internet in it’s early days. He says that five years down the road there will be one singular virtual world or a singular network of virtual worlds.

“It will replace the web as we know it,” he said. “The 2-D web is going to become a library within the 3-D space.”

Source: Business In Vancouver