CMP Launches Metaverse Services Division
CMP Technology has become “the first global media company to be certified by Linden Labs as a full-service content developer in Second Life,” according to a press release. (Though maybe Linden Lab should be careful that their certified devs at least spell the name of the company correctly.) CMP, of course, runs the annual Game Developers Conference and the Austin Game Developers Conference (which leans more toward MMOs and virtual worlds), as well as a number of Web 2.0 and other tech events, and publishes sites like Gamasutra and publications like Game Developer and Information Week. CMP is now bringing the virtual world into its media offerings: “CMP’s metaverse division will work with customers to create unique builds and events that promote deep engagement and nurture community. The division will integrate Second Life and the web to reach global markets while leveraging CMP’s trusted brands to acquire highly-qualified audiences and bring them inworld.”
Does this spell the beginning of stiffer competition for outfits like the Electric Sheep Company, Millions of Us, Rivers Run Red and others? It has seemed to be only a matter of time before big media companies got into the metaverse services space in a big way; CMP’s entry may be the early sign of a coming wave. Other firms with global reach (Edelman, for one) are already operating in Second Life (despite the “first” claim in CMP’s release), and it seems logical that such firms would expand their operations to produce campaigns for this new medium. It will be interesting to see how the “native” firms react to increased competition. I’m still waiting for a big media company to absorb one of the main metaverse services companies. If the market holds up (a big if, but not huge one), I imagine it’s only a matter of time before that happens. CMP’s entry into the space could well accelerate the process.
Feeds
They have put me in somewhat of a negative mood to begin with by spamming me with this, but what on earth does “certified by Linden Labs as a full-service content developer in Second Life” mean? Nothing, as far as I can tell; the SL certification project is the only thing that I can think of and that (a) is nowhere near completion and (b) applies to individuals, not companies.
Given the lack of any further detail or confirmation, let alone spelling the name wrong, this looks like yet another “first” claim (I thought we had seen the last of those, perhaps not) with the novelty of claiming a status which doesn’t even exist in the first place.
“the first global media company to be certified by Linden Labs as a full-service content developer in Second Life,”
interesting…
Does this mean that Linden Lab have created a new system of ‘certification’ for developers. If so why are we hearing it here first? I thought you just sent in your details and they just posted, they even have a disclaimer to that extent.
This sounds like a total overstatement of the truth. I’m not too sure about this, I thought esheep and RRR had relationships with ‘global media companies ?
This is another ‘first’ press release, boring! Lets see what they produce, we’ve seen this all before and then they just fade away.
I just checked, Leo Burnett, BBH, Isobar, Carat, AKQA, O&M, Philips Design… are all global media companies, who have a presence in Second Life, a working presence. Perhaps they should fire the copywriter on this one. Dreadful.
Also, and this is what would worry me, if they cannot communicate (bullshit) their own offering within the realms of fact, are they doing the same for their clients?
Endemol (http://www.endemol.com), a huge media company (bringing us the enlightning Big Brother on TV and Second Life) also have a virtual worlds division…
add to that list SKY NEWS, who are a media company…
http://www.secondlifeinsider.com/2007/08/10/be-a-sky-news-reporter/
Do you think CMP did any research? Especially as they haven’t even managed to get the correct spelling of Linden Lab? Or cite them properly to copyright and the boiler plate?
Sounds like the beginning of a merger to me. CMP are the certified developers because eventually they will be one and the same. Afterall, you need another business plan if you’re really going to open source the back end of the code.
Sounds like a big fat lie to me, quite frankly.
I have emailed CMP regarding this, in any case, asking for clarification as to quite what they mean by “certification”.
would SL like to comment? ;)
Does this spell the beginning of stiffer competition for outfits like the Electric Sheep Company, Millions of Us, Rivers Run Red and others?
The beginning? You’re joking, right? You know how many companies are already creating competing, if not better builds than 2006’s Big Three?
I was thinking more in terms of the fact that big media companies could well have a much easier time winning clients than most of the existing metaverse shops, because they already have track records, contacts and a wealth of experience, as well as the ability to lowball bids when necessary because they have other revenue sources. Not saying they’re better, just that they bring assets to the table that many clients will find compelling. It’s a different kind of competition than the space has seen before.
lowballing;)
look closer into the looking glass Alice.
and yes “experience” and actual “track records”..such horrible things for clients to look to receive;)
What this means is that the “metaverse” will soon be a place based on the quality of the services/content provided by those who “do” for others professionally.
Sounds good to me.
c3
oh, and just to make sure that im not misunderstood in terms of the larger articles issue of “certification”
Single companies “certifications” for such diverse services that true open media platforms can provide is just silly and not good for a growing industry that serves clients anyway.
SL certainly “provided EXTRA” for the 3 companies most mentioned above in the past. For that time to be ended is more than fine for a new industry, and for any company to start up there own division for a service shows that just as its been done in almost every media before, that companies like to have control of their messages, and control over their expenditures.
As to “metaverse” webshops..well they may now all be bought up by larger agencies if they want:), and by such agencies that may or may not have been bought up or created by the 2d web explosion of services from a decade ago.:)
Sounds like good news to me….And also, Big or Small does not define quality of services…just a biz plan.:)
c3
I do have to agree with Hiro, there are other great companies now:
IBM - who must be the overall leaders
The next tier:
NMC
StudioSFO
The Magicians
V3 Group
These are the strongest contenders, most the developers on the SL list are either one trick ponies, or worse just fishing for some golden nugget. How many of the SL developers have actually delievered a commercial project within Second Life?
Also, I would think being requested for media appearances, conference speaking and press coverage goes a long way to define your thought leadership role. So, we cannot ignore the big three. Being an American I always see Sibley and Reuben in the press. I understand from my European Second Life friends that Justin Bovington of Rivers Run Red is in a lot of press, TV and a conference speaker on this subject.
The good thing here is validation, the more companies in this space developing and defining it, the better for the future of Second Life as a platform. What it does do though, is put pressure on start-ups, as they will have less of the cherry to bite.
Oh, geez … this is what happens when press releases go out when you’re trying to recover from Lyme disease on vacation.
Apologies to Ordinal for spamming. We sent that release out, once, over PR Newswire (a UBM sibling). I guess a lot of news sources pick up on and redistribute that feed.
Certification is clearly the wrong word — a PR foible. All this release indicates is that we filled out the full-service developer app like everyone else, supplied the requisite proofs of incorporation, references, SLURLs, and now we’re on the list.
Claims of ‘first’ are always odious. But this one is defensible. No other global b2b multimedia publisher of CMP’s scale has registered as an SL developer. Beyond the Game Developer group (GDC, gamasutra, Austin GDC, etc.) and the InformationWeek properties, the CMP family also includes VARBusiness and the Xchange expos, CRN, the Black Hat expos and sites, Computer Security Institute, ICMI, LightReading/DarkReading and their expos, Business Communications Review, Dr Dobb’s Journal and the SD global expos, EETimes, MSDN Magazine, TechNet Magazine, DB2, Microsoft Architecture Journal, networld+interop, Web 2.0 (via our MediaLive subsidiary in partnership with O’Reilly) and dozens and dozens of other properties — many dominant in their markets. Our parent company, United Business Media (licensor of Dilbert), is either the largest or second-largest publisher in the world on any given day. Edelman is a PR firm — quite a different beast. The other firms mentioned are (I think mostly) digital ad/creative agencies — which puts them uniformly in a different relationship to customers and audience than that CMP typically solicits.
I would hope that our announcement would _not_ bode stiffer competition for any of the agencies and experts now functioning inworld. As the release noted, we’re interested in helping our customers (and new classes of customer) obtain ROI from their metaverse investments and assets, and in offering ways into the metaverse that pair well (and scale in tandem) with existing marketing, sales, collaboration, online, customer engagement and other initiatives. In much of this, we’d hope to work in partnership with firms and individuals whose technical expertise and creativity is well-established.
Meanwhile, the world is still very small. And what’s most important to us is growing it. Building the SL population; bringing new groups inworld; proving to business the viability of this paradigm for customer engagement and commerce; helping overcome the scaling, security and other issues; and seeing Second Life on a path to massive growth, increasing open-ness and ultimate integration into a fully-functional metaverse that elides platform boundaries and offers ample room for all of us to grow.
[…] Also of humorous note this year were the fanfare press releases issued referring to Linden Labs. Note to writers, at least get the name right. […]