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July 1, 2008
Posted: 03:27 PM ET
Economic pressures are taking their toll on surf sims in Second Life and it seems certain that more surf sims will close during the coming months, according to the Second Life surfing blog SurfWatch. Rezzable, one of Second Life’s leading sim owner/developers, announced the closing of Surfline Aloha and Surfline Epic sims at the end of June, just a couple of months after completely redesigning and relaunching the surf sims. “When the the bulk of the surfing community is spending time at only a couple of surf locations in Second Life, those locations that don’t see traffic will close down,” said ATown Fall, owner of TCH Estates and one of the entrepreneurs behind a massive Second Life watersports development called Broadwater Antilles. “There is no reason to offer something that is expensive to run when people are not using it. For the record, TCH Epic Surf zone will remain open and fully operational.” Surfing community sources blame the Second Life economy and the difficulty of making consistent revenues via surfing sims. However, this hasn’t stopped sim owners launching new surfing sims and, whilst some surf sims close down, several new ones are opening. Radical Twang, co-owner of Reaction Pro has just opened an innovative new surfing beach called the Boneyard next door to his flagship Reaction and Reaction Girl stores. Combining surfing sims with other economic activities certainly seems to be the key, “I certainly wouldn’t have a full beach sim without my store to cover the costs,” says Radical. “I foresee more closing due to financial issues, not everyone can afford to provide something so expensive, without any real return.” Picture credit: Dharma Austin Filed under: business • culture • ireport • sports |
 
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