Multiverse Secures $4.18 Million In Investments

MMO platform developer The Multiverse Network has announced that it has secured $4.18 million in investment funding from the Sterling Stamos firm, to hire staff and complete the 1.0 release of its product in late 2007/early 2008. First announced in late 2005, the Multiverse Platform is a free technology platform designed to provide independent game developers with the resources they need to enter the online game market. The platform includes a Multiverse Client, allowing users to navigate within a virtual world and interact with other players; Multiverse Servers to handle the "heavy lifting" of the game; Multiverse Tools to create and change any aspect of their game; and a Multiverse Infrastructure for the necessary infrastructure services for developers to build commercial applications. More importantly, Multiverse is attempting to shake up the licensing methods of its product to enable independent developers, as executive producer Corey Bridges told Gamasutra in March: "It’s a client, it’s tools, and it’s geared especially toward indies, and the way we do that business wise is have the technology available on our site for free. It’s completely free for non-commercial use. You can download the tech, install your servers wherever you want, we don’t have to host them for you, build your world, have as many people come into as you want, and we don’t make a dime until you start charging consumers. Then we do revenue share, we keep ten percent, letting you keep the other ninety, as well as all the intellectual property, and all of that. Although some of the larger companies have said, ‘ah, we don’t want to do revenue share.’ In that case, we do a very large, upfront payment." Multiverse says that over 10,000 development teams from around the world have signed up to use the platform, with over 150 teams already beginning projects ranging from fantasy and sci-fi MMOs to educational worlds designed to teach users math, science, and the works of William Shakespeare. The company also announced that Sterling Stamos private equity director Joanna Strober has joined the Multiverse Board of Directors, effective immediately. The company says Strober has has prior experience investing in early-stage consumer companies, such as BlueNile. Speaking on behalf of Sterling Stamos, Strober said, "We believe that Multiverse will play a fundamental role in the growth of virtual worlds and multiplayer games. Based on the Multiverse team's experience and creative vision, we believe they could become a $1 billion leader creating breakthrough applications for business, education, government and entertainment."