Metaplace, a startup that allows users to craft their own virtual worlds, has closed a $6.7 million funding round led by Charles River Ventures and Cresendo Ventures along with Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. The round brings Metaplace’s total funding to $9.4 million. Alongside today’s announcement the site is also opening an invite-only private beta, and 200 TechCrunch readers can sign up immediately by going here and entering the code “MPTECHCRUNCH”.
Metaplace (which was formerly known as Areae) is building a platform that allows users to build their own Flash-based virtual worlds, and caters to both novice and experienced gamers alike. New players who’d just like to throw something together can drag and drop items from the site’s marketplace, much as they would in the game The Sims. More experienced users can choose to create and submit their own designs to the marketplace. And for experienced programmers, the site features a full scripting engine (similar to what is found in Second Life), allowing users to create entirely new gameplay features.
It’s an ambitious project to be sure, but it’s headed by industry veterans behind some of the biggest massively multiplayer games ever released, including Ultima Online (a precursor to Everquest and World of Warcraft that continues to have an avid following a decade after its release). Users have already created worlds ranging from Zombie-filled graveyards to puzzles and platformers. We’ll have a more thorough review once the game launches to the public and is more feature-complete.
Metaplace will be facing some stiff competition. This is a very crowded space, with browser-based virtual worlds from the likes of Second Life, Google’s Lively, and WebFlock, along with a host of worlds that are geared towards a younger crowd.
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what’s their biz model?
you must be new here
So what is it TC? I am new here as well.
Cheers - Eric
He’s joking. You don’t need a business model anymore. Not formally, anyway. For something like this the answer to, “What’s your business model,” is, “We can either charge users, sell advertising, or both; but right now we are focused on making a great product.”
Ohh I thought that maybe you would sell virtual items in the various virtual worlds. I don’t have a clue about this space but I see how crazy my kids are to buy Webkinz to the point now you no longer need to think of what to buy a 10 year old for his birthday - just get him a Webkinz. If it is about eyeballs it all makes sense to me. Thanks for responding.
Cheers - Eric
What recession?
@Shafqat: Fundings being announced now were probably closed at least 6/8 weeks earlier… we’ll see in a few weeks if start-ups still raise money!
With so many virtual worlds… whats going to happen to real world? We need some virtual world reality shows
We have them. Red vs Blue.
Well, that key didn’t last long…
3 hours, 9 comments, 200 keys used?
Unless I’m too late, that beta key doesn’t work
Virtual worlds are counter cyclical - similar to gaming industry. Good times ahead…
Invitation keys are very offensive for grown-ups, for ‘hardcore gamers’ they are fine.
You really need to start learning how to work with grown-ups, MP people. I’m telling you.
You’re one of the few, if not the only, supposed “adult” who thinks that, Alex.
Jason:
Lively and WebFlock are browser-based, as well as 3dXplorer - http://www.3dxplorer.com - but Second Life is not - it runs in its own client application.
Second Life is fairly active with 30 odd thousand users logged in per month - not a patch on Club Penguin - that should summarize the potential in this technology/market for you
Also SL does have a few Web containers that you can interact with, just no live 3D UI.
Second Life is getting much more than 30 thousand users per month, the number is actually closer to 1million. 3D worlds being web browser or own client based - truly show us a glimpse into the future