CMP Media's Gamasutra has announced the launch of a new blog to cover virtual worlds called Worlds in Motion. One reason they launched the blog is because the Game Developer Research staff will be "launching multiple reports" about online worlds over the few months. Another obvious reason for the launch of the blog is that virtual worlds - or the metaverse - is a rapidly growing medium.
The weblog, which is being run by Gamasutra and GameSetWatch writer Leigh Alexander, has been set up because "...the staff at Game Developer Research will be launching multiple reports on the state and future of online worlds over the next few months." Thus, the new blog will report on virtual worlds as the staff compiles information on this increasingly important market.
"Consider the statistics. Webkinz, 2.5 million uniques in December; you buy a plush toy. Runescape: we still don't think of Runescape as being part of our industry, but it's probably the most popular MMO in the world, more popular than WoW. Toontown is up to more than 2.5 million uniques now. We never talk about Toontown because it's web deployed.
Then of course there’s was Club Penguin, with 4.5 million uniques in December alone...When you compare the numbers, all of those are larger than the number two MMO in the western world, every single one of them. So yeah, I think people are missing something."
The blog also includes an Online World Atlas, which is a growing database of online worlds. So far there are two entries in the database: Habbo Hotel and Club Penguin.
CMP Media's Gamasutra has 
