Having spent a few hours “playing” Second Life (research, mind you), I definitely noticed a disconnect between the hype and what I actually experienced. To boil it down to two words—it sucked. Now there’s a real-life study from the Yankee Group backing up my complaints. In a nutshell…
• The average SL user only logs on for 12 minutes per month
• Growth has stagnated :-(
Is there a reason for this? Sure, maybe. The study says that more and more people are choosing to get their gaming fix via mobile devices (cellphones, PSPs, DSes, etc.) and that, when people do sit in front of a computer, they’re screwing around on Facebook and the like.
In other words, Second Life is all hype, no substance—just like the Mets.
Study: Second Life Overhyped [Next Gen]