Wookey To Transition Sansar To Metaverse Investments LTD

Breaking News

Today Chance Richie shared some exciting news via the Sansar Discord channel about how Wookey will be transitioning the Sansar platform to Metaverse Investments Ltd to get Sansar back on track again after recent months. Metaverse Investments Ltd is looking forward to the challenge ahead and resolving problems that have happened. The goal is for the engineering team to come in to get things “fixed and stabilize the platform” asap. This is good news for Sansar in the short term and long term I think.

The Sansar team in recent months have been limited but have done a good job to keep the Sansar platform alive and in search of new leadership/capital. Over the next month there will be transitions happening.

A new vision for Sansar…

My strategic vision is focused on providing the Creator community the tools they need to build the most engaging worlds, quests, and experiences in the Metaverse. I strongly believe that if we fulfill that vision, visitors and residents will come in droves.

This could be a great opportunity for Sansar to get back in the game again and have a new beginning. Oriym has the best intentions for the users and creators of Sansar. Oriym is in it for the long run apparently and he wants to make Sansar a success.

Hello Sansarians! My name is Chance Richie, and I will be working with Wookey to transition the Sansar platform to Metaverse Investments Ltd. Wookey Technologies has been diligently looking for the right candidate to take over the responsibility of progressing Sansar to the next level, and Metaverse Investments Ltd is looking forward to the challenge.

I am working with the Wookey Team to get Sansar back on track. In my opinion, the Wookey Team has done a lot of good work on the platform and has had to work through many challenges inherited from the Linden Labs acquisition. I believe the Wookey Team has been fully committed to the platform and expanding it to a broader audience by focusing on the true immersive VR Metaverse experience. I understand that there has been some history with the former direction and team, however what is most important is focusing on the future and making Sansar the most Creator-friendly Metaverse on the planet. My strategic vision is focused on providing the Creator community the tools they need to build the most engaging worlds, quests, and experiences in the Metaverse. I strongly believe that if we fulfill that vision, visitors and residents will come in droves. We understand Sansar has problems that need to take care of as soon as possible and it has been a challenge to address these issues with a limited team. My first priority is bringing in the engineering talent necessary to get things fixed and stabilize the platform. So do not despair, help is coming soon!

In the meantime, I want you to know how amazing I think the Sansar platform is, and that I see great potential. That potential will only be realized if we are successful engaging the Sansar Community, so to that end I’d like to restart the meetings Ebbe Altberg used to do in Sansar. More to come on that!

The second part says this

Rest assured, we did our homework and know Sansar has a great community that is welcoming to new users. The Sansar Discord has also been a great way to pass knowledge on to new people and I have gotten more familiar with the platform as a result of following the channel. No question seems to be too difficult or tiring for you. Sansar is clearly “for the people, by the people”, and we want to amplify that culture.

And last but not least, I’d like to thank the Sansar ambassadors and helpers who have stuck with Sansar through thick and thin, including all you die-hards who kept events going. You never stopped believing and I am here to reward that belief in Sansar by providing you the tools you’ve all been looking for.

I am transparent almost to a fault so feel free to reach out and ask me anything. Even though Sansar is about 8 years old from its initial conception, it is still a startup, and I am going to try and instill the “nothing is impossible” startup mentality. Admittedly, I am far from Phillip Rosedale or Ebbe Altberg, but I have built and sold software companies and guarantee you I will put my heart and soul into making Sansar a success. I am looking forward to meeting you on Discord and in the first “Community Meeting”. I am the Sansarian known as “Oriym” and if you see someone in the Nexus with a black cowboy hat on it is probably me. Please stop me and say hi if you see me wandering around!

Work will be underway very soon…

I think you’ll like what you see a year from now. Heck I think you’ll like what you see a couple of months from now. The Wookey guys are being very helpful in jumpstarting my involvement in Sansar and we are going to dive in soon and start bug fixing, etc.

Feel free to spread the good news about Sansar. Big changes will be happening in the weeks and months ahead. It’s time to keep track of Sansar developments once again.

I blog more on Sansar when new developments happen. Stay tuned for that.

Sansar Back Online After Downtime

Sansar has been making the rounds in the past week or so after Sansar went down last week. The reason for the downtime is unknown but it could be because of a recent AWS outage. The good news is that Sansar has come back online since then and the Sansar website. The Wookey management team are now actively looking to resolve the issues on the platform and they hope things will start running smoothly soon.

One of the issues has been trying to resolve the furlough of Sansar employees that has gone on since September 2021. There are probably more reasons behind the scenes that the public can not know about. I think there needs to be more updated and regular communications going on during platform outages etc.

Steve Moriya from the Wookey management team posted this on the Sansar Discord channel.

hi there. this is steve from the wookey management – sansar team. i thought i’d pop in to let you know we are actively looking to resolve the issues on the platform. we value our community big time, and hoping we can get things running smoothly soon. … we appreciate your patience and understanding… happy holidays from the wookey team!!!

More updates will be posted on my blog very soon. Hopefully the Wookey management team will resolve the issues as soon as possible.

Lab Gab Episode 19 Summary – LL staff say “stay safe, stay virtual”

On Friday 27th March Lab Gab episode 19 was broadcasted live with Ebbe Altberg CEO of Linden Lab and Brett Linden Senior Director of Marketing. There was discussion about the coronavirus outbreak, Second Life and Sansar. It was a pretty interesting show.

Here is a brief summary on the latest new updates.

Coronavirus Outbreak

• All Linden Lab offices are closed. The co-lo data centre is open for access.
• It is not anticipated that Second Life should experience any significant service interruptions going forward.
• The lab have been saying “stay safe, stay virtual” during meetings and calls.
• The lab have concerns about the virus and its impact it may have on family/friends.
• Linden Lab formation is to work remotely from home (its been like that for years).

Second Life 

• Second Life is a very established & profitable company.
• Name Changes just a very few weeks away from launching.
• New registrations for Second Life are up by 60% with a rise in concurrency around 10% overall due to cities around the world being locked down.
• Returning users are up in Second Life – increase in those that have not logged into Second Life for some time.
• IOS Mobile Companion (IMs & group messaging) is now very close to Alpha status. Work has started on the Android version.
• Linden Lab is committed to the cloud uplift to AWS / Google until the end of 2020.
• New Second Life Book Club will launch on 8th April 2020 along with a monthly event. Showcase streams will be a series of “drop in” video streams that will showcase music and art events in Second Life.

Sansar

• Around 30 staff at Sansar have been offered to join the new Sansar under Wookey Project Corp.
• Sansar new focus will be on virtual events in the music and entertainment sectors.
• Tilia will continue to be used for Sansar Dollar transactions

Here is the full episode below…

Wookey Project Corp. Acquires Sansar

Breaking News

On Tuesday 24th March Linden Lab officially announced that Wookey Project Corp. a San Francisco-based technology company has acquired Sansar.

The lab released another press release on the Sansar blog. It’s a new day and a new chapter for Sansar. Join us.

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Why did Linden Lab sell Sansar?

Linden Lab chose to streamline its focus to continue the development and operations of the leading virtual world Second Life and licensed money services provider Tilia

Who is Wookey Project Corp.?

Wookey Project Corp. continues to create a new generation of online AR/VR experiences that allow users the power of collaborative interaction through knowledge immersion.

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Here is the full press release…

2020-03-24 00:00:00 UTC

Linden Lab has had some inquiries from the public and media about the current happenings of Sansar. We are very excited to witness the unfolding of Sansar getting a fresh opportunity to thrive under the ownership of Wookey Project Corp., a San Francisco-based technology compan that has assumed all operations without any interruption to operations or the Sansar community.

We are proud to have given birth to this amazing platform for creativity and live events, and encourage our community to continue the process of supporting Sansar as it shifts to new ownership. We’ve assembled a quick FAQ to address key inquiries about this transition.

Why did Linden Lab sell Sansar?

Linden Lab chose to streamline its focus to continue the development and operations of the leading virtual world Second Life and licensed money services provider Tilia.

Is Second Life also being sold to Wookey Project Corp.?

No. Second Life and Tilia both remain under the independent ownership of Linden Lab.

Who is Wookey Project Corp.?

Wookey Project Corp. continues to create a new generation of online AR/VR experiences that allow users the power of collaborative interaction through knowledge immersion.

Will my Sansar account and personal information be safe?

Yes! Your Sansar account information remains secure and safe during this transition. Please refer to the revised Privacy and Terms and Conditions on Sansar.com to learn more. If you have comments or questions about the privacy policy, feel free to email legal@wookey.com.

Will Linden Lab retain any ownership or management with Sansar after the transition?

No. Effective immediately, Wookey Project Corp. assumes all operations and management of Sansar. Wookey Project Corp. has contracted with Tilia Inc. as a third party service provider to perform certain back office functions for Sansar, including the issuance and redemption of Sansar’s in-game virtual tokens.

What will be the focus of Sansar under the new ownership?

Sansar will continue to evolve as the premier platform for live events and entertainment including (but not limited to) support for VR, while Second Life is positioned as the Internet’s leading user-created virtual world platform. Both Linden Lab and Wookey Project Corp. will continue to develop our respective platforms independently.

What does this mean for Second Life and Linden Lab?

Operations at Second Life are not impacted at all. The Second Life community will continue to be able to login and enjoy SL without any interruption. As for Linden Lab, many members of the Sansar team formerly employed by Linden Lab are staying with Sansar as employees under its new ownership.

For more information about the future of Sansar, please see the announcement on the Sansar blog.

 

Sansar appears to now be owned by Wookey

Wookey mention at the bottom of the official Sansar website

Latest Developments

• Updates will appear here soon

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Today it appears in the Sansar Terms of Service and at the bottom of the official Sansar website it looks like Wookey may be taking over Sansar. 

There is now active discussion going on the SL Forums and via the Sansar Discord channel.

Linden Lab have not yet made any official announcements on this. Sansar no longer appears on the official Linden Lab website either.

Official Wookey website – a new world coming soon

Torley Linden Left Linden Lab Last Month

Torley’s LinkedIn account page

According to New World Notes it appears that Torley Linden left Linden Lab last month. It’s unclear if it was to do with the recent Sansar layoffs or to do with something else at this stage.

Friendly greetings! We — for simplicity’s sake — I am  Torley Linden, and I amplify your awesome.

Torley will be deeply missed by the Second Life community. I enjoyed watching his video tutorials and I liked it when he attended big events including office hours.

It looks like Torley regions went off the grid sometime during mid February 2020 around the time of the Sansar layoffs.

• Torley & Is & Here – Regions! 

I loved seeing his latest amazing snapshots on his Flickr photostream which actually inspired me to go on to do grid wide adventures. I loved his passion for making Second Life more amazing. 

Who are Lindens ?

Torley actually wrote this Flickr testimonial for me back in early October 2008 just a few months before I transferred to the main grid on my 18th birthday.

• 

  Torley Linden attends the snowball fight 2015

Torley attended huge snowball fight back in 2015

I wish Torley the best of luck for the future and thanks for making Second Life more awesome.

Linden Lab moves to Plan B for Sansar

https://youtu.be/Av1D3UCsr0o

Ebbe Altberg confirmed on Friday 21st February on Lab Gab episode 14 that Linden Lab is no longer continuing to sponsor Sansar financially. The lab are now looking for a plan B for Sansar going forward.

No deal has been done yet.

Ebbe said the following below…

So as you might have heard, sadly we have decided that we, as Linden Lab, couldn’t continue to sponsor the project financially, so we’re looking for a plan B for Sansar to continue. I can’t say much, but we’re having very interesting conversations with several parties to help that project move forward, which I’m really excited about. But no deal is done yet, so people will just have to be patient and see what happens with it, but yes  it is true that Linden Lab going forward will focus entirely on Second Life and Tilia. I’m still busy making sure that Sansar finds a great home and that the great work that that team has started can continue.

Linden Lab will now focus entirely on Second Life and Tilia going forward which is good news indeed. They remain in a strong financial position at this time. More investments are coming now for Second Life.

Other Important Updates

• Linden Lab is still developing a companion app for Second Life. There is still no ETA. Testing could start soon like in the next few months for IOS first followed with a Androud version.
• No confirmed date for deployment for Name Changes but Name Changes will be around US $20 cheaper for Premium Plus members
• No ETA for launch date for Premium Plus
• 8 names confirmed for the first list of last names > Conundrum, Dismantled, Huntsman, Littlepaws, Nova, Ravenhurst, Wumpkins & Yeatley + Winners will be informed via e-mail
• The cloud uplift project due to be completed before the end of 2020
• Transfer costs for buy-down / grandfathered regions is to be reduced from US $600 to US $300
• There are roughly 5,000 new accounts logging-in to Second Life every day
• There are plans to introduce 2FA

Lab Gab Episode 14 this Friday with Ebbe & Grumpity

At 11am SLT this Friday (21st) episode 14 of the new Lab Gab series will go live featuring Ebbe Altberg CEO of Linden Lab and Grumpity Linden the VP of Product.

Strawberry Linden will be speaking to the both of them about the 2020 roadmap for Second Life. There will be updates on a whole range of things.

There could be new updates on Sansar during the episode.

Fill out the Google Form and submit your questions today

Please spread the word about this special episode.

Linden Lab updates about Second Life future & latest news on Sansar

On 13th February Linden Lab a blog post about an update to Second Life which is rather interesting to read through. Apparently Linden Lab have made some personnel and operational changes recently. A few employees have officially left the lab but the good news is that the team has strengthened more.

Linden Lab is continuing to invest heavily in Second Life going forward with many exciting developments happening pretty soon including new Linden Home themes, a new mobile companion app, the launch of last names which will be available in the next few weeks. There will be more new features, improved performance and usability updates soon.

The full blog post reads this…

There’ve been quite a few rumors about changes at the Lab and their possible effects on Second Life and Tilia. The truth is that we have made a few operational and personnel changes to ensure that we continue to stay strong for the next decade and beyond. This means that we had to say goodbye to a few employees, but at the same time we also strengthened our team by bringing back some heavy hitters who will help make Second Life better than ever.

So, Second Life is still here and still strong. We’re continuing to invest in its future and you’ll see the results of our commitment this year as we roll out a new mobile companion app, new Linden Home themes, performance and usability improvements, and a number of other new features and enhancements. The ability to change names will be available in the next few weeks, too.

These changes reflect our commitment to making SL strong for many years to come. To infinity and beyond!

Sansar Update – (13th Feb) 

Ebbe Altberg posted a update on the official Sansar Discord channel saying that there have been layoffs. Ebbe confirmed that Sansar is up and running. The future is unclear at the moment.

The lab are still in discussion about the next steps for Sansar. The problem is there will be many that will be speculating about these latest changes. Just have to wait and see now what will happen in the days and weeks ahead.

So, I’m only going to say this tonight as it’s late. We can pick up the conversation in the following days. Yes, there were layoffs today. A truly wonderful group of people. But as you can see Sansar is up and running. We are still in discussion about next steps. Including with the wonderful group of people. More to come. Don’t give up yet. Go create and have fun. Not much point in speculating until we can tell you more.

More updates soon.

Linden Lab laid off over 20 staffers working on Sansar

According to various sources this week it looks like over 20 staff members working on Sansar have been laid off. The latest numbers estimates is anywhere between 20 and 30. It’s always sad for anyone that have lost their jobs in real life. I hope they can all find a way forward somehow. 

This week a Linden Lab spokesperson said this…

We have no comment at this time, but we’re continuing to develop both Second Life and Sansar, and we’re excited about the many new partnerships and features on tap for 2020!

On NWN Gindipple said this…

“That’s the spin they going with now,” as longtime third party Sansar developer “Gindipple” tells me. “They’ve changed direction so many times now. They are winging this and hoping. I gave up on them a while ago, so don’t care as much now. They lost a lot of good people in this cut back, some went to SL but many [are] just out.

“And the thing is, when a company does this,” he adds with irony, “the remaining people come to work so highly motivated now.”

It’s unclear at this stage what this means for the Sansar development going forward. Apparently some of the layoffs include longtime Lindens who worked on Second Life. 

• New partnerships joining with Sansar in 2020 ?

The Future of Sansar 

The focus has now changed from the Sansar Team to a move towards “live” events. It does look like for the moment Sansar will be operating a “skeleton crew”. 

Sansar will not be closed down or sold however it could eventually be a spinoff company which may be a separate product from Linden Lab sometime in the 2020s. 

The Future of Second Life

The good news is that Linden Lab is still improving Second Life and they are still hiring for Second Life development.