VentureBeat

Second Life has taken a step toward breaking down virtual walls, saying it has struck deals with IBM and nearly 30 other companies to allow users to transport their characters between virtual worlds.

It was the most significant announcement this week, which saw several other initiatives including a simplified SL browser and Google Earth developer platform.

Large companies have sought to establish a presence in virtual worlds, mainly for branding purposes. However, the slow adoption of virtual worlds has fallen far short of fulfilling the hype that caused many companies to plow money into building their presence in Second Life.

Allowing users to move their characters around as they please could help encourage more people to play, as well as defeating the multiple-profiles problem that social networks have failed to address. And once most game platforms have made characters interoperable, the way may be paved the way for a variety of other services, such as a cross-platform advertising network for virtual worlds.

In a move also intended to open up virtual worlds to a wider audience, the Electric Sheep Company has released a simplified Second Life browser called OnRez. Users who have had trouble dealing with Linden Labs’ somewhat more complex software may be more willing to log on when using a more intuitive interface.

Although the various initiatives around its platform may help Second Life gain traction, it could also find a big competitor in Google’s technologies.

A company called Multiverse Network opened partnership opportunities this week for any company wishing to develop customized virtual worlds using either Google Earth or another pair of Google tools, 3D Warehouse and SketchUp.

Developers will be able to use the project, called Architectural Wonders, to create their own custom versions of Google Earth landscapes. Although the number of users who will be able to log into any one world is currently limited to the low thousands, a complex, interconnected world designed by groups of designers could someday appear.

The richness of Google Earth has also been notched up with the addition of geotagged videos. Like the pictures that can already be uploaded, the videos will be attached to, and playable in, specific areas.

Google Earth isn’t alone in having the idea of tying existing internet content into a virtual world. Guy Bendov, the CEO of a stealth startup called Journeys, is also in the process of creating a virtual world with a number of elements that will be familiar to users.

The aim is to capture a casual gaming audience who want all the benefits of the internet — music, videos, pictures and more — in their virtual world. “Take the Sims into more of a mashup environment, and you get close to what we’re doing,” says Bendov.

Whether users prefer a world based around fantasy or reality, or whether their avatars will be able to seamlessly switch from one to the other, is not yet resolved. However, the past week has shown that the nascent market for virtual worlds has potential, provided they can agree to work together.

Now that much of the hype around virtual worlds has worn away, it’s obvious that development is underway in earnest. For an overview of investment into virtual worlds, take a look at our analysis of a study on the last year’s investments.

Next Story: With Myspace & Google coming, how much is Facebook worth?
Previous Story: Roundup: [Update: Facebook takes dip, maybe?], Crescendo Ventures, and more