It's sad to see ESC downscaling at this time and my good thoughts to out to the artists, techs and other folk facing retrenchment. When the original IT reshuffle of the late ninties and early noughties happened this was the fate of a lot of web folk too. Now after much pain and teething problems the web is a reliable bread and butter industry to work in.

I wish them all the best in their future endeavours and am sure the knowledge and skills they've gained in working for this new developing medium will promise them all a fine future. Several years down the track virtual worlds will be a solid business, and ESC's many innovators will remember fondly that they were there in the beginning, when the business was still predominantly experimental. Good luck to you all :)