UPDATE: Electric Sheep lays off 22
By Eric Reuters
(Adds information from the Electric Sheep)
SECOND LIFE, Dec 18 (Reuters) - The Electric Sheep Company, one of the premier consulting and development firms within Second Life, said on Tuesday it has laid off 22 people, equal to about one-third of its total staff.
The move comes after Electric Sheep clients AOL Pointe and Pontiac ended their presence in Second Life, as Linden Lab’s virtual world faces increasing competition from new offerings.
ESC Operations Chief Giff Constable told Reuters the company is increasingly looking outside Second Life for future business opportunities. “We expect growth in 2008 to come from a number of different sources and expect to see larger projects on a wider range of platforms,” he said.
Constable said ESC was keeping its software team intact. “One of the areas that took a big hit was our events group, we didn’t see that as core,” Constable said. ESC will move towards contractors for jobs like guiding new residents through a custom orientation experience, such as October’s CSI tie-in.
“Events are sporadic, that’s a not a constant thing,” Constable said.
Electric Sheep has created the OnRez shopping service and an alternate viewer for exploring Second Life. The company designed a variety of corporate builds, including CBS, Sony BMG, and Reuters.
