Q&A: Opportunities For Developers In Virtually A Whole New Industry
The concept of "virtual worlds" is a familiar one inside the game's industry but is just now becoming familiar to businesses outside. They're just now catching onto how VWs can strengthen their communications externally with customers and business partners, and internally with employees. That means opportunities for VW-savvy developers looking for business -- or jobs -- outside of gaming.DAM took a few minutes to chat about two upcoming VW conferences with the man who runs them both, Christopher Sherman, executive director of Austin, Texas-based Virtual World Management.
DAM: Chris, you're hosting two shows -- one in Los Angeles and one in London -- that focus on VWs. But these aren't about games, are they?
Chris Sherman: That's correct; they're not. There are certainly VWs that are games. But we're focusing on VWs that are not … which, to us, means that they're all about online
2-D or 3-D open-ended environments where users can hang out, socialize, and interact. The most difficult problem we have right now is defining exactly what they are; you ask 10 different people and get 10 different answers. Virtual worlds can range from kids' worlds that are designed for online play -- which isn't necessarily the same as games -- to VWs for the Fortune 1000 which could be used for training or collaboration purposes.
DAM: Can you give me a few examples of non-gaming companies that might be interested in VWs and therefore your conferences?
Sherman: The one that comes to mind first for a lot of people is "Second Life" … then "Club Penguin" and "BarbieGirls" on the kids' side … and companies like Forterra and IBM and others that are focused on the enterprise side.
DAM: And the companies that might attend are interested in developing their own VWs? Or outsourcing to other companies who might create VWs for them?
Sherman: Both. The players are either end-user destinations or software companies that are building VW middleware. And there are also service providers who will do your VW build for you so you don't have to. There's really a whole group of new companies within this cottage industry that have sprung up in these last 18-24 months that didn't exist previously.
DAM: What has caused that growth?
Sherman: A lot of it is just the progress of the technology. Certainly much of that technology -- some of the 3-D graphics, the animation, and so on -- has come out of the games industry.
DAM: Even though these aren’t game shows, they may interest videogame developers because there’s a certain crossover, particularly in MMOGs, no?
Sherman: Yes, there is a reason to attend whether you’re a business person or a developer, although we’re not having a whole lot of design sessions; we’re keeping it more focused on the business side of things, like how to maximize the opportunities and how to make money with VWs.
DAM: What sort of opportunities do VWs open up for game developers? I would expect that there are job opportunities for them at non-gaming companies entering the VW space, no?
Sherman: Certainly! The VWs industry is stealing a lot of ideas, technology, and techniques from the videogames industry. You’ve got community development jobs, community managers, customer service, design and programming from art assets to hardcore programming. Some of the newer VWs have their own proprietary platforms while others use open platforms. There are more and more browser-based virtual worlds that may use Flash or some other technology.
DAM: So what is your best advice to game developers who might be a little tired of what they’re doing and might want to get involved in this growing sector?
Sherman: Read all you can. One thing we do is write a daily blog called “Virtual Worlds News” which covers virtual worlds from a non-gaming perspective. And we have two tracks at the shows that will certainly be interesting to game developers -- one is "Virtual Worlds Hollywood" which is all about how you take storytelling from traditional Hollywood movies and TV and bring it online … and the other is "Virtual Worlds Kids" which is all about taking existing toy brands and creating virtual worlds around them. So, if, say, you’re a game developer and you want to help a toy manufacturer take its products from the retail shelves to the online virtual space, this is probably a good place to go. For example, Trilogy Studios in LA was created to solely build games but they wound up doing a lot of work for the MTV virtual worlds.
You’re seeing certain game professionals take the leap and saying, there’s something more here than I thought. At least it’s worth their peeking around to see if anything interests them.
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>> Q&A: Opportunities For Developers In Virtually A Whole New Industry
The concept of "virtual worlds" is a familiar one inside the game's industry but is just now becoming familiar to businesses outside. They're just now catching onto how VWs can strengthen their communications externally with customers and business partners, and internally with employees. That means opportunities for VW-savvy developers looking for business -- or jobs -- outside of gaming.
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