The future of Social VR — Fireside with Linden Lab CEO, Ebbe Altberg

Linden Labs is a long time leader in user-created virtual experiences. Second Life, their longest running product, is the largest-ever 3D virtual world created entirely by its users. With VR rapidly approaching the mainstream, they want to make sure they maintain that standing with Project Sansar.

TL;DR

Wordpress of Virtual Reality

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Linden Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg by my fireplace in SF to talk about the new project. Codenamed Project Sansar, is described as the WordPress of virtual reality. Sansar essentially allows people to create virtual environments on a platform without all the technical know-how.

In our discussion Ebbe speaks to the high barriers to entry and technical rigor required to create VR experiences. Sansar will be a bit technical at first given the complexities of 3D modeling in Autodesk’s Maya, but his thesis throughout our discussion is that you shouldn’t need to be a tech guru to create a VR experience. By eliminating some of these barriers, such as hosting, social and monetary support, Linden believes it will enable users to focus on the design of the experience rather than the technical language behind it.

Sansar is built from the ground up with virtual reality in mind. Right now creators can build in Maya then publish everything to Sansar with simply a push of a button. In doing so, creators will get a link that can be shared and explored by others. This “platform approach” is why many draw the comparison between Sansar and WordPress.

Social Virtual Worlds Are A Cash Cow

In regards to monetization, last year Second Life had a GDP of around $500 million, and users cashed out a total in excess of $60 million. One woman made $1.2 million USD or 300 million “Lindens” selling virtual dresses. Compared to Second Life, land in Sansar will be cheaper and more abundant. However, instead of charging users upfront, Sansar will be making up the difference by capitalizing on the transactions made and taking a sales tax of the platform’s total GDP. This strategy will allow for meaningful infrastructure expansion and lower the financial barrier to entry.

Linden has plans for Sansar to be in many devices including mobile. In the words of Ebbe, Linden Lab is “trying to build a Platform that will last decades” in what he sees as the “final medium for creativity.”