The creators of Second Life revealed the cost of the project: $1.3 billion went into its development, and another $1.1 billion was spent on payments to content creators
Second Life, one of the first metaverse games of the 2000s, is still alive and generating revenue for its creators. Key metrics and future prospects were discussed by Linden Lab founder Philip Rosedale and its executive chairman Brad Oberwager in a conversation with VentureBeat.
Second Life
- The cumulative budget of the game throughout its development and operation is estimated at $1.3 billion. Top managers shared that at the very beginning, Linden Lab received $25 million in development investments, and it became profitable two years after the game's launch in 2005.
- Annually, the project generates $650 million. A significant portion of the revenue comes from the sale of items on the in-game marketplace.
- The total payout to UGC creators in Second Life amounted to $1.1 billion this year. It seems this platform is much more favorable to content creators than Roblox, keeping only 10% of the revenue from item sales made in virtual tokens—Linden dollars. For comparison, Roblox retains about 70%.
- In 2023 alone, the platform had 21,152 creators who managed to earn real money through it. Some additional statistics from the founder: 6,446 individuals earned more than $1,000 from transactions; 139 individuals earned over $100,000; and 14 individuals earned at least a million dollars.
- VentureBeat journalists calculated: users in Second Life are 100 times more likely to earn $10,000 than in Roblox, and 27 times more likely to become millionaires.
- Rosedale described their creation's success criteria as follows: “To create a sustainable virtual world where people want to live, you must strive for harmony: high user expenditure, a balance between creators and consumers, and an atmosphere reminiscent of a farmer's market.”
- According to Rosedale, Second Life earns an average of $190 per active player per day, compared to $12 for Roblox. Here's the difference: Roblox has extremely cheap traffic, which Second Life cannot boast. Therefore, it focuses on engaging the existing audience and encouraging them to spend more.
- It's worth noting that Linden Lab representatives briefly mentioned Second Life's MAU as about 600,000 people in an interview with VentureBeat. However, in October, they spoke with journalist Wagner James Au, where slightly different figures were presented. Specifically, the executives confirmed a decline in MAU over 2024, maintaining levels closer to 500,000 people throughout the year. Nonetheless, this remains an excellent result for a project launched 21 years ago.
- Moreover, the game's community continues to track and record online data. One enthusiast, a Second Life resident of 18 years known as Daniel Voyager, reported on his portal that in 2024, the platform's peak DAU reached 53,000 simultaneous players. As of December 10, Second Life had more than 68 million registered users.
- Finally, Linden Lab unveiled future plans for its platform. It seems to be following the well-trodden path of competitors—last month a free “beta” of the mobile version of Second Life became available. Development focus will be on this version. Another priority for the studio is integrating AI-based features, including the potential introduction of AI-powered NPC companions.
