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Linden Lab preps four releases for November

Justin Olivetti — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: New Titles, Second Life, Browser, Mobile, Miscellaneous

The boys and girls of Linden Lab are expanding their operation. Rapidly expanding, as it turns out. The Second Life studio announced that it has not one, not two, not three, but four titles scheduled for release in November.

We've already heard about the first, which is the Minecraft-wannabe Patterns, but the others are just now being revealed. The second is the iPad-only (for now) Creatorverse, which allows users to draw shapes, have them interact via physics, and then share them on the cloud. The final two are Dio, a room creator, and Versu, a storytelling toolset.

Linden Lab CEO Rod Humble affirmed that Second Life will remain important to the studio, but it will need to make room for all of the new children coming into the family.

Linden Lab preps four releases for November originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 11 Oct 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Free for All: Second Life, the little 75 million-dollar engine that could

Beau Hindman — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Second Life, Free-to-Play, Virtual Worlds, Free for All, Sandbox, Anniversaries

Do not call Second Life a game. If you find yourself in the position of describing the game at all publicly, be prepared to be corrected: Second Life is not a game; it's a world. Let me amend that: Second Life is an experience, a world, a game, or whatever the players, residents, and consumers want to call it. In fact, the Linden Lab baby is whatever you want to make of it, and I have seen many, many sides of it over the last eight years since I joined the experience.

Don't worry; this column will not be a fanboy rehash of the successes of Second Life and will not be a recount of my favorite memories. Instead, we'll focus on facts to prove just how incredible this latest ninth anniversary is.

Continue reading Free for All: Second Life, the little 75 million-dollar engine that could

Free for All: Second Life, the little 75 million-dollar engine that could originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 20 Jun 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Linden Lab's Second Life 'extremely profitable,' company looking to expand

Jef Reahard — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: MMO Industry, News Items, Second Life, Virtual Worlds, Miscellaneous

Second Life has dropped out of the limelight in recent years, but if a new piece at GamesIndustry.biz is on the mark, the long-running virtual world may be primed for something of a renaissance.

Former Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon vacated the throne in June 2010, and veteran developer Rod Humble took over at the beginning of 2011. Since then, the EverQuest and The Sims veteran has been working hard to bring a bit of structure to Second Life's virtual sprawl, and in the process, reinvigorate what was one of the first MMORPG media darlings.

"I was taken aback by just how big Second Life was," Humble says. "To be honest, it had fallen off my radar until I got the call offering me the position. And I looked at their numbers; this is a world that has got 1 million people logging in every month, generating well in excess of $75 million a year -- it's extremely profitable."

Humble spent much of 2011 refining the product, and everything from the sign-up process to the UI to world transportation received some attention. The result was a 40 percent uptick in new users, and now Humble is bent on expanding Linden Lab's offerings beyond Second Life. "Linden Lab has been very successful with one innovative product, but I want to stretch the company out again, to make it a really exciting place where people can't wait to find out about the next unusual title we're going to release," he said.

Linden Lab's Second Life 'extremely profitable,' company looking to expand originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 15 Mar 2012 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Game Archaeologist's excellent EverQuest Online Adventures: The highlights

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Launches, MMO Industry, Everquest Online Adventures, Consoles, The Game Archaeologist

In the pantheon of Sony Online Entertainment's flagship EverQuest franchise, there is a whole family of MMOs gathered around the table every evening. There's Papa EverQuest, looking a little wrinkled and worn but also radiating fame and authority. Next to him is Mama EverQuest II, a powerful matron of entertainment if there ever was one. They look proudly down the table at a bassinet where Baby EverQuest Next lies, cooing as it grows into the future generation of this family.

Then, in the next room over is a cabinet. The cabinet is locked. Inside that cabinet is a weird abnormality that certainly looks like a member of the family, but he hasn't seen the light of day in quite some time. He subsists on the scraps of an aging console and the fading loyalty of fans, hoping against odds that one day he'll be allowed out for a stroll or something. His name is Cousin EverQuest Online Adventures, the EQ MMO nobody mentions.

EQOA is a strange abnormality in SOE's lineup. While it was one of the very first console MMOs and heir to the EverQuest name, it was quickly eclipsed in both areas by other games and left alone. Yet, against all odds, it continues to operate on the PlayStation 2, eight years and counting since its debut.

This month the Game Archaeologist will crack open that cabinet and give this interesting MMO a few weeks of attention and care. I think it's about time, don't you?

Continue reading The Game Archaeologist's excellent EverQuest Online Adventures: The highlights

The Game Archaeologist's excellent EverQuest Online Adventures: The highlights originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 08 Nov 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rod Humble details experimentation and innovation at Linden Lab

Matt Daniel — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO Industry, News Items, Virtual Worlds, Miscellaneous

Linden Lab's popular Second Life is known for being one of the more creative, outside-the-box titles available on the market. That tradition carries over into Linden Lab CEO Rod Humble's newest initiative, which he says "puts the 'lab' in Linden Lab." Rather than having his developers spend all their time between projects working on bug-fixes, Humble has begun a rapid-prototyping R&D initiative. For all the information on this new project, head on over to Gamasutra and check out the full feature.

Rod Humble details experimentation and innovation at Linden Lab originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Second Life's CEO Rod Humble talks anniversaries

Beau Hindman — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Interviews, Second Life, Free-to-Play, Virtual Worlds, Interviews (Massively's)

Second Life recently hit a milestone in the MMORPG industry: eight years in service. This is ancient in MMO terms, and yet the game has shown continued growth. How would you explain such success, especially when the game... er, world... is such an enigma? Even the players are not sure how to describe it.

Well, we called out the big guns and sat down with Rod Humble, CEO of Linden Lab, the maker of Second Life. He was kind enough to not only do the interview but allow us to embed the audio in the article for you to hear! Don't worry; we've also written up much of what was said, so you can choose to listen, read, or both!

Click past the cut and let's get right to the interview with Rod as he talks about success, explaining Second Life and some of the surprises he's met with along the way.

Continue reading Second Life's CEO Rod Humble talks anniversaries

Second Life's CEO Rod Humble talks anniversaries originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 23 Jun 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Second Life's Rod Humble on accessibility, new tech, and the future

Jef Reahard — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Real-Life, Culture, Interviews, MMO Industry, News Items, Second Life, Virtual Worlds, Miscellaneous

Second Life doesn't get a ton of press anymore, partly because of its age and party because -- even after nearly eight years -- people still don't know what to make of it. Is it a game? Is it a virtual world? Is it a melting pot for anyone who has ever thought to themselves: "I know! Let's code, model, and distribute some giant free-standing genitalia!"

Luckily, Rock, Paper Shotgun has stepped up to interview new Linden Lab boss Rod Humble and shed some light on the matter. Humble recently left EA after six years overseeing the second and third entries in the long running Sims franchise, and speaks about trading the relatively insulated world of virtual suburbia for the wild and incredibly untamed frontiers of Second Life.

"What makes Second Life so intriguing to me is its hard to define nature. I have heard people call it a virtual world, a game, the 3D internet, a social media platform, the list goes on. I like that kind of unresolved ambiguity, I think it shows something that is not yet fully evolved and has exciting new roads to discover," Humble says. He goes on to outline plans to revamp Second Life's performance, ease-of-use, and service aspects in order to counter the recent decline in user hours.

Second Life's Rod Humble on accessibility, new tech, and the future originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 10 Feb 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Linden Lab names new CEO

Krystalle Voecks — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO Industry, News Items, Second Life, Virtual Worlds, Miscellaneous

For some time now there's been a question as to who would eventually be stepping into the shoes of CEO over at Linden Lab. In June, Mark Kingdon (aka M Linden) stepped down with very little warning after a series of layoffs, and Philip Rosedale (aka Philip Linden) stepped in as interim CEO while the company was reevaluating its direction and future technology potential. Now, news comes today that Rod Humble will be stepping into the CEO spot at Linden Lab in January.

Humble has been in the games industry since 1990, during which time he's racked up involvement in over 200 different games. Prior to making the jump to CEO at Linden Labs, Humble was the President of Product Development on EverQuest, and worked on other SOE titles such as EverQuest Online Adventures and Star Wars Galaxies. Most recently, Humble worked as label lead on The Sims at EA, later attaining Executive Vice President for that division. His expertise in large online games and connection to a crazy hot title like The Sims may prove to be the combination needed to lead Second Life into an even more promising future.

[Via Tateru Nino]

Linden Lab names new CEO originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 23 Dec 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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