Lego Universe: more info on blurring borders between virtual and physical

On the last Lego Universe update, we’ve mentioned that Lego is planning to offer a service that will let gamers order a real-life version of their virtual Lego creations, to be delivered straight to their doorstep. Now we learn that it isn’t such a new thing and that Lego already had that concept in mind long ago. Read more about it in the full article!

Blurring the borders between the physical and virtual worlds: that’s what the Lego Company is planning to do with their very own MMO, Lego Universe, which is now under development by NetDevil. As we have previously mentioned in the last update, Lego will offer a service that will let Lego Universe gamers order a physical, real version of their Lego creations in-game, to be delivered straight to their doorstep.

“We’re very proud of that because there’s no one else that can do that,” said Mark Hansen, development director of Lego Universe. He also revealed that the physical and virtual concept of Lego Universe was already conceived way before in 1999. “We have the Lego factory in Denmark so we built the whole back-supply chain first before we built the game,” he explained.

The Lego Universe MMO isn’t Lego’s first foray into letting users design models online, however. They already got into the concept with Lego Digital Designer, a computer-aided Lego designing package.

The driving force behind Lego Universe are the gamers, of course. Hansen explained that the community had a lot of say in the game’s inception. “They build with Lego, they organise their own events and they are very integrated with us and they are very happy about the opportunities the game will offer,” said Hansen.

Will Lego Universe‘s attempt to break the border between physical and virtual take off? Only time can tell. Do check this space for more updates!

Via Games Industry