Connecting Worlds

As Kzero reports, we have just launched the Myrl Virtual Worlds Index, a new indicator of the relative popularity of the  different virtual worlds, built on the first Myrl cross-world usage data collected in the last 10 days of September 2008. Kzero provides below a first analysis of the data and explains exactly what data the index is based on…

From our perspective, it is important to outline how the worlds that have done better so far are the vertical worlds and this might say a lot about the changing nature of the way we use virtual worlds. If we are effectively starting to use multiple worlds at the same time for specific and diversified immersive experiences, a content-driven rather than a context-driven usage, than vertical virtual worlds are certainly the first port of call… More content about this will be published very soon, when we will post the presentation delivered at the recent Serious Virtual Worlds Conference in Coventry.

Since entering open beta about a month ago, Myrl is going from strength to strength, now with 19 different virtual worlds integrated.

Part of the product roadmap here is to include registration API’s for all worlds within the Myrl framework. In the meantime, visitors to Myrl wanting to join new virtual worlds can click through directly to the respective registration pages. W

What this in turn provides is an indication of the popularity of different worlds from a new-sign up perspective - this is the Myrl Index. It’s still early days and the data is a 10 day snapshot with just under 1,500 unique visitors making up the data, but nevertheless an indication of how Myrl visitors view different worlds and their proposition to visit the sign-up page. The % refers to the proportion of visitors to a virtual world dedicated page that click through to registration.

Two vertical worlds (vSide and vMTV) have the highest conversion rates from the Myrl page to the dedicated registration pages, with approx. 25% of visitors clicking through. Of course, the incumbent profile of the current Myrl visitor mix (in terms of age, gender, likes, dislikes) plays a role here in terms of driving which worlds are more popular than others. Looking at this data, it would appear that Myrl users are not in the KT&T segment as Habbo, There and Vizwoz (younger worlds) have lower conversions. However, vMTV is effectively a platform clone of There, so that theory may not be strictly appropriate - plus SmallWorlds appears to be doing well too.

The Myrl Index will be a regular analytic published both here and over on Myrl and definitely something to keep an eye on.