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Gurley on MMOGs

You had to know this was going to be one of his main subjects, but venture guy Bill Gurley’s Next Big Thing Q&A in the FT today includes an ode to the wonders of MMOGs (massively multiplayer online games), a subject about which Bill actually has useful views (unlike many of the other subjects on which he opines therein):

Bill Gurley: … The most amazing shift in free time usage is clearly the move to MMOGS [Massive Multiplayer Online Games].

People are spending hours and hours in the multi-player environments. The biggest bang has been in Asia, but World of Warcraft’s success here in the US this past 9 months is nothing short of remarkable. For those that don’t know WOW launched last December - $50 for the CDs and $14/month to subscribe. 3.5m users now. The top success before was Everquest - 400K.

Now we are seeing much more casual and social MMORPGs - Nexxon’s KartRider in Korea is the stuff of legend, and has already been highlighted in the financial press. We have invested in a company called www.habbohotel.com that has remarkable traction providing an avatar environment for teens.

Here in the US we invested in www.secondlife.com - a virtual world where the users build out the experiences. It is on a tremendous ramp. Not sure this is what you wanted to hear, but people are spending 8-20 hours a week in these “Worlds”. For some, there is a heavy social aspect to this interaction. I won’t comment on the moral impact of this movement.

 

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