Worlds In Motion sat down to talk about IMVU with CEO and president Cary Rosenzweig; I think we're seeing the second coming of Second Life if the New York Times picks up on this. The interview itself is interesting, with a lot of attention paid to the creative/economic aspects of item transactions and so forth. On how it all works (and how it's working out in IMVU):
Somebody takes the credits they get from IMVU Credits, and it goes to the item's creator. At the point where the item is sold, IMVU takes some of these credits back. We call it a sink to pull credits out of the economy to prevent inflation.Numerically, the vast majority of people who sell those items take the credit and go back into the catalog themselves to buy more stuff.
Within IMVU, there's status with being a creator. Some of them are very successful, as they've created amazing things, and lots of people buy their creations. We allow them to take those credits and trade them for cash from IMVU CREDITS members, so they're in a competition with us.
We have an internal system that creates tremendous incentive, not only social, but creative and now financial, to attract the best creators. Many, many more said that it brings in a little money a month. We're proud of that.
Of course, the IMVU Credits model is nothing new, but they're reportedly now raking in $1 million in revenue a month from their item catalog and associated purchases. We'll see if it manages to really take off (and stay that way).
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