A new stealth startup called Areae is starting to come out of hiding and talk to the press. There is little concrete information on what they are doing, or when they’ll launch. But it is clear that they are creating one or more virtual worlds that aim to bring web 2.0 ideals into the online gaming world (or perhaps its onling gaming ideals into the web 2.0 world).
Either way, the comparisons to Second Life, which has done a pretty good job of engaging the web 2.0 crowd, will be coming as soon as the company starts to show its stuff. A source close to the company told me “Second Life has received a tremendous amount of press, but it has in my opinion, misinformed the world as to what a virtual world really is.”
Those are fighting words.
The company certainly has the right credentials to do something interesting in the MMOG space. They have funding from Charles River Ventures, and the founder, Raph Koster, was the lead designer of Ultima Online and the Chief Creative Officer of Sony Online Entertainment.
Areae, you have our attention. Let’s see whatcha got.
See our coverage of Red 5 Studios for other recent MMOG startup news.