Well my spider senses have proven to be correct with Linden Lab issuing a press release : Linden Lab Refocuses Product Offering
After careful consideration, Linden Lab has decided to cease development and support for dio, Versu, and Creatorverse. We’re grateful for those who took the time to experiment with these products in their early days, but ultimately we have determined that due to a number of factors, we and our customers will be best served by focusing our efforts on continuing to provide exceptional service and compelling new experiences for the users of our other products.
Whereas most product closures upset some people, the most disappointing aspect for me is the loss of Versu. From the blurb of the soon to be removed website:
Versu is an interactive storytelling platform that builds experiences around characters and social interaction. Each story sets out a premise and some possible outcomes. As a player, you get to select a character, guide their choices, watch other characters react to what you’ve chosen, and accomplish (or fail at) your chosen goals.
As a content creator, you’ll be able to create your own characters, improvise new dialogue and gestures for them, and even build entirely new stories and games for others to enjoy.
Unfortunately Versu didn’t make it to the content creation part. However there’s a lot of potential in this concept. So here’s the thing, is Versu dead or will Richard Evans, who may well still be the owner of Little Text People, or Emily Short, of Emily Short’s interactive storytelling, be able to continue with the product?
This is where things get a bit confusing, has Little Text People been released from Linden Lab back to being an independent company?
The next question would be who actually owns the intellectual property rights to Versu, if it’s Linden Lab and they don’t want it anymore, why not consider open sourcing the code or allowing someone else to take it over? There are some seriously good ideas behind the Versu concept.
Maybe Rod Humble’s new venture would like to take Versu under its wing. I don’t know what Rod’s new company will be but there will be movement in that direction soon I’m sure.
Whatever the case, it seems a great waste to just let Versu wither and die, a second life for Versu would not be a bad step at all.
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