A new stealth startup called Areae is starting to come out of hiding and talk to the press. There is little concrete information on what they are doing, or when they’ll launch. But it is clear that they are creating one or more virtual worlds that aim to bring web 2.0 ideals into the online gaming world (or perhaps its onling gaming ideals into the web 2.0 world).
Either way, the comparisons to Second Life, which has done a pretty good job of engaging the web 2.0 crowd, will be coming as soon as the company starts to show its stuff. A source close to the company told me “Second Life has received a tremendous amount of press, but it has in my opinion, misinformed the world as to what a virtual world really is.”
Those are fighting words.
The company certainly has the right credentials to do something interesting in the MMOG space. They have funding from Charles River Ventures, and the founder, Raph Koster, was the lead designer of Ultima Online and the Chief Creative Officer of Sony Online Entertainment.
Areae, you have our attention. Let’s see whatcha got.
See our coverage of Red 5 Studios for other recent MMOG startup news.
Wow Something is happening. Looks like lot are interested what Areae is upto.
Check the Alexa traffic for last few days. Lets wait and see what Raph Koster presents.
http://traffic.alexa.com/graph.....&w=500
This article posts sounds like a CNN sound bite - it’s amazing how much “news” can be created out of thin air… speculation isn’t news my friends - only facts are
“We interrupt your regularly scheduled programing to live to the newsroom”
(opening credits)
“There is some rumblings down in silicon valley about a really cool company called Areae that is about to release a product we have no clue as to function or content nor when it will be released”
(cut to commercial about life insurance)
“Following our previous news report, we have found some analysis who happens to know something more about this product”
(show picture of analysis wondering what he is doing there)
“So Mr. Analyst, what do you think about the yet un-named Areae product”
(cut to analyst full screen)
“Well, this product will be revolutionary, initially they will launch in the United States and then expand worldwide, we are expecting an IPO first thing on Monday”
(fascinating, anything else)
“This company has lots of experience developing unique things, expect the IPO to gain some steam by mid-afternoon”
(cut to commercial about Morgan Stanley)
“any parting words for our viewers Mr. Analyst”
(cut to split-screen)
“You are seeing the next wave of Web 2.0, if you thought myspace was huge… watch out – this product will blow it out of the water”
(cut to commentator)
“Well, you heard it here first, Areae will be releasing an IPO first thing on Monday for a yet undisclosed product that will revolutionize the web as we know it… be sure to get further details tonight on The Situation Room”
(cut to show you actually cared about, now in progress)
Jon
Well, apparently Raph is a big name in the online gaming world. So that alone makes it newsworthy. It’s like the announcement about Shawn Fanning doing a new startup. It’s newsworthy just because of who he is, even if no details were given at all about what he is actually building.
Jon, I think it’s probably a marketing strategy to create buzz. Letting people know you’re up to something, but not letting them know what that “something” is, is a tried and true method of creating hype.
And Mike is right, those are fighting words. But I suspect they’re very calculated fighting words. Second Life is a huge “something” to link the company to.
I just love how some PR-whiz realized that ,,stealth mode” sounds so much cooler than ,,unfinished product”
MSFT should adopt that and always include in their PRs: ,,MS Vista has been in a stealth mode all these years…” Sounds cool, doesn’t it?
Unfinished product isn’t the same as stealth start up billy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stealth_startup
Wikiiiiipeedia yum. Information
Is second life alike games are really so popular now? I see seldom people around me play such kind of games.
-Mike
Tech Tutorials: http://www.hotcoding.com
If you look at the user numbers of Second Life as compared to those of World of Warcraft, I think it’s obvious that people want to fantasy role-play, beat things up, and get phat loot much, much more than they want to create their own virtual worlds.
Second Life NEEDS some real competition, and they need it NOW. They’ve pretty much thrown the community under the bus to pump up the numbers before competitors launch. A million users in 3 years and then a second million since summer. Double the population in less than 6 months? IP issues, lag, crashes, losses, you name it - they’ve got it. SL has huge first mover advantage, but if somebody can bring up a modern, stable world and actually communicate and encourage those creating the IP then they are still early enough to win.
Virtualization is going to be the new reality. As to the comments that virtual worlds are not going to be as popular as RPG’s, I suggest you check out the number one web site on the net - Myspace. What is Myspace but a virtual world? It’s just not 3d. When somebody gets the Metaverse right, Myspace is dead, dead, dead. The demands of users growing up with 3dvr will REQUIRE social networking to be more than just a flat page on the screen.
This is a long term proposition for somebody who can see the opportunity and seize it.
@Terry
Bingo! You win the insight of the day award Grats!
As far as PR goes they are doing a couple things
Controlling the public’s expectations of performance in check
AND, using a comparison with Second Life to create excitement via possibility and imagination. And who doesn’t want to get in on the ground floor before it blows up and becomes a big deal. It becomes bragging rights.
Also, what’s really exciting is that they’re starting to take a platform that is primarily for gaming and pleasure and starting to make it into something that has importance in both virtuality reality and reality.