Microsoft to develop a PlayStation Home-like virtual world?

 

Before Halo 3 and the Xbox 360, people thought that Microsoft would never be able to hit it big in the videogame industry. Now, with Master Chief‘s final adventure selling like hotcakes, and their next-generation console doing pretty nicely in terms of sales, Microsoft seems to have set its sights on emulating the success of games such as Second Life and Ultima Online. How? By making its very own virtual world for players to walk around in, that’s how.

This all comes from the general manager of strategy in Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division, Daniel Schiappa, who was sighted in a recent virtual worlds conference in San Jose, California. He told attendees that by next year, they’ll know exactly why he was attending the event itself.

So does this mean that Microsoft is getting into the virtual worlds business? Maybe or maybe not. Even with Daniel Schiappa himself giving away that the company itself is considering the jump, with the avatar-networking slowly moving from the PC to consoles, then to mobile phones – he also expressed concern about how much Microsoft would have to play catch up, seeing as games such as Second Life and World of Warcraft has already captured much of the target demographic.

He also gave the project a sort-of deadline, noting that if Microsoft doesn’t spring a surprise for us anytime soon, then there won’t be any in the future. He explicitly said, “If a year from now we donÂ’t have anything, then we probably wonÂ’t have anything.”

Certainly a very daring venture for Microsoft, if ever the company does go ahead with creating a virtual world of its own. But then again, Microsoft certainly has had a string of successes with its surprise attacks – who knows how this one would turn out? Updates as we get them!

 

Before Halo 3 and the Xbox 360, people thought that Microsoft would never be able to hit it big in the videogame industry. Now, with Master Chief‘s final adventure selling like hotcakes, and their next-generation console doing pretty nicely in terms of sales, Microsoft seems to have set its sights on emulating the success of games such as Second Life and Ultima Online. How? By making its very own virtual world for players to walk around in, that’s how.

This all comes from the general manager of strategy in Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division, Daniel Schiappa, who was sighted in a recent virtual worlds conference in San Jose, California. He told attendees that by next year, they’ll know exactly why he was attending the event itself.

So does this mean that Microsoft is getting into the virtual worlds business? Maybe or maybe not. Even with Daniel Schiappa himself giving away that the company itself is considering the jump, with the avatar-networking slowly moving from the PC to consoles, then to mobile phones – he also expressed concern about how much Microsoft would have to play catch up, seeing as games such as Second Life and World of Warcraft has already captured much of the target demographic.

He also gave the project a sort-of deadline, noting that if Microsoft doesn’t spring a surprise for us anytime soon, then there won’t be any in the future. He explicitly said, “If a year from now we donÂ’t have anything, then we probably wonÂ’t have anything.”

Certainly a very daring venture for Microsoft, if ever the company does go ahead with creating a virtual world of its own. But then again, Microsoft certainly has had a string of successes with its surprise attacks – who knows how this one would turn out? Updates as we get them!