"There is a mindset within the tech business which is 'rinse and repeat.'"
- Linden Lab CEO Rod Humble in an interview with The Drax Files.
Electronic Arts alum, and current Linden Lab CEO Rod Humble spoke with Second Life fan podcast Drax Files regarding the current and future state of the free-to-play MMO, now celebrating its 10th anniversary.
"Most people in Silicon Valley have no idea that Second Life still exists," Humble says. "The tech press doesn't pay much attention to us but folks with a creative bent are having a wonderful time in-world... We have a million people active every month. We have 400,000-odd people sign up every month. And I think, at least from my background... that never happens."
"With the 10-year anniversary, there is another opportunity to position Second Life correctly," Humble continues in the full text of the interview. He hints at upcoming overhauls, a "very very large virtual world investment," and support for Oculus Rift.
"We are working to make it a triple-A experience," he says.
Rod Humble became CEO of Linden Lab in 2011. Late last year, he was approached by a colleague about overhauling the game's performance under the hood.
"He just came into my office after the first week and said; 'Rod there is this elephant in the room. You do know how just slow everything works? And it just ruins the immersion.' And so we put a real focus on it," Humble explains.
Linden Lab's programmers set to work improving processing and render time in-game, the product of which players will begin to see rolling out in the next two quarters. The Drax Files video (above) shows off side-by-side comparisons between Second Life's old and upcoming approach to texture loading.
"Second Life is ahead of its generation," says Humble. "There is a mindset within the tech business which is 'rinse and repeat.' And if it's something is older then a year it is clearly on its way down and I just don't believe that at all. Creative platforms should be tremendously long lived."
You can view the video and the complete interview transcript here.
When I hear "half a billion dollars in player to player transactions" my ears perk up. Mainly because my wife does Poser sales so maybe moving over to Second Life wouldn't be that much of a stretch and yet another stream of income for her. Hmm...
