Linden Lab Launches Creator Partnership Program to Help Grow Second Life -- Including Creators Outside SL Ecosystem

Another piece of Linden Lab's strategy to grow the Second Life user base was just revealed:

We’re excited to unveil the Creator Partnership Program, a new initiative that invites our talented creator community to play a central role in shaping the future of Second Life. This program is all about collaboration—between Linden Lab and creators like you—to co-create content and experiences that delight both new and existing residents...

[We] invite creators of all types to help us build and improve the next generation of Second Life new user experiences and beyond. Whether you’re a fashion designer, avatar builder, home goods creator, experience developer, or just someone with a standout idea—we want to hear from you...

Work hand-in-hand with Linden Lab to shape the future of user experiences and improve Second Life. Help define how new users experience Second Life—from their very first moments to long-term engagement.

The announcement doesn't go into this detail, but "creators" refers not only to SL-centric creators, I can confirm, but includes creators who work on multiple platforms:

"We are hoping for it," Linden Lab head Brad Oberwager tells me, when I ask about that point. "And we are going to do something big with creators in May through December."

I'm glad the company is encouraging creators outside the SL ecosystem, because they'll be solely needed to actually grow the Second Life user base beyond the existing core. Linden Lab has recently partnered with SL brands like game developer MadPea and SL shopping site Seraphim, but these are already well-known creators in the community, and are inevitably architected only to serve the established community. Which is totally fine, of course, but with growth remaining flat, even after the launch of the mobile app, creators how also have non-SL experience are desperately needed.

Likely candidates? Creators more familiar with Roblox, for one, because Second Life's new scripting language, SLua, has the same basis as Roblox's Luau. As Signal Linden (Bennett Goble) told me recently:

"It should certainly be easier for Roblox creators experienced with Lua to work with the language, but they'll still have to learn 1) about Second Life 2) the library of functions specific to Second Life."

Roblox, I never get tired of noting, pays creators on its platform far less per capita than does Second Life.

I'd also love to see applications from creators from VRChat, which has the most cultural affinity with Second Life. I'm thinking of people like "Jar", whose multiplayer games in VRChat have such a huge community of fans, she earns a decent full-time income just from her Patreon.

More details here, and don't miss this RSVP sign-up form to be first to discuss the new Creator Partnership Program with Linden leaders.

Comments

[sirhc desantis]

Well you were asking about what else to add to your survey - this should be a doozy =^^=

[Sanny Yoshikawa]

Do you know if this Creator Partnership Programme is paid?

If you are talking about offering your brand's products to LL for free, wouldn't you call it a partnership? (Maybe my understanding of English is wrong.)

I think Linden should incorporate engagement payouts like Roblox and Fortnite. It could be by lowering the tier of the land depending on the user's monthly engagement. Rather than Linden partnering with a particular brand.

[HalfTheSLOfficeNeedsToBeFired]

Why would anyone come from a multi million userbase of Roblox, a more modern platform like VRChat or other higher end platforms to come make stuff for Second Life without just being paid as a straight up employee? There's not enough people here. Yes they pay more commission, but so do many platforms when starting out, or limited to maybe 20,000 like sl is no activity.

"[We] invite creators of all types to help us build and improve the next generation of Second Life new user experiences and beyond. "
The next generation they say? Of what? Last time I checked its the same SL chugging along at best with more burden of a crappy PBR implementation.
Hate being the bringer of seemingly negative views but LL is just ridiculous. In their death throes. It's over for the aspiring and average creator, and frankly they'd be stupid to invest their time in SL. there's enough challenges out there including AI competition they should focus on worlds with users and fun, and sell their assets to millions of users instead.