Multiverse Becomes Open Source MMO Platform After Closing

Multiverse, the MMO/virtual world platform launched in 2004 by a number of Netscape veterans, has ceased operations, which is unfortunate news for many reasons. However, here's one good and interesting upshot: The platform has gone open source, and community members are still working on the code. I hope indie MMO developers run with it and innovate coolness; I imagine SL-based content creators could integrate some Multiverse assets into their own Second Life projects. Go here to get involved with the Multiverse open source community.

I haven't heard much about Multiverse since 2007 or so, beyond what you can read on Gamasutra here: That James Cameron was an investor, and the company planned to create MMOs based on his Titanic and Avatar, and that an MMO based on Firefly was also in plans. Somehow, despite the strength of these brands, the company couldn't gain traction. At the same time, ironically, the SLers created a fairly large Firefly-inspired roleplay community, and numerous roleplay regions based on Avatar.

Hat tip: Mark Wallace.

Comments

[Arcadia Codesmith]

It's become a depressing pattern for a game studio to land a license for one or more hot properties, and then either deliver nothing or come out with an MMO-Lite targeted towards non-gaming fans of the franchise rather than gamers (a losing strategy: if the fans stick at all, they become gamers in short order, with the same range of needs as any other gamer).

My understanding is that there's still interest in the Firefly license and another company might pick up the ball. It's a compelling setting for an MMO on a number of levels... if it's done with sufficient depth and complexity. Firefly fans, even those who don't game, aren't going to sit still for thin content and shallow systems.

As for the engine, I'm definitely checking it out. I've been looking for a cost-effective venue to make worlds, and SL ain't it, baby.

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