Update, 8:05pm PT: For context on this move and what Philip might advise on the future of Second Life, here's a recent interview with him suggesting Meta shouldn't be the one making the Metaverse and that it's not for everyone anyway, my post on how he started integrating High Fidelity spatial audio in virtual worlds like Breakroom, and (watch below the break), his chat on the Metaverse with Sine Wave's Adam Frisby.
Just got this message from Philip Rosedale, about the future of Second Life:
"I'm not back full-time, but it feels great to get to be talking to Lindens about design! I think the vital thing to focus on is demonstrating that a virtual world can scale to greater capacity while being inclusive and fair and safe for humanity."
He's saying that because yes, Second Life founder Philip Rosedale is now officially back at Linden Lab as a strategic advisor and an investor though this company High Fidelity, which will also share resources and technology with the Lindens:
High Fidelity announced today that it acquired an interest in Linden Research, Inc. (“Linden Lab”), the pioneering developer of the virtual world Second Life. The deal includes a cash investment and distributed computing patents. Members of High Fidelity’s metaverse team are joining the company, and Philip Rosedale, who is a founder of both companies, is also rejoining Second Life as a strategic advisor.
The transaction will help Second Life further scale its operations and strengthen its commitment to growing an innovative, inclusive, and diverse metaverse where its inhabitants’ ingenuity drives real-world value for themselves and others.
"No one has come close to building a virtual world like Second Life," says Second Life founder and High Fidelity co-founder, Philip Rosedale. “Big Tech giving away VR headsets and building a metaverse on their ad-driven, behavior-modification platforms isn’t going to create a magical, single digital utopia for everyone. Second Life has managed to create both a positive, enriching experience for its residents — with room for millions more to join — and built a thriving subscription-based business at the same time. Virtual worlds don’t need to be dystopias.”
It's not exactly mysterious what companies (or company singular) in Big Tech he's alluding to.
Much more soon. In fact, I'm talking with Philip tomorrow for a podcast project where we'll chat about these very topics.
Wagner James Au / New World Notes 
Leave a comment