lively posts

It wasn't exactly an MMO game; more of a graphical chat room. But it was created by one of the biggest Internet based companies in the world. Yet even the power of Google couldn't get people to try out their Lively virtual world. This week the company announced that Lively, launched in beta form last July, will shut down by the end of the year.

Many people believed that Lively could have been the first step in a plan by Google to get more into actual PC gaming but as Google's blog site states, "...we've also always accepted that when you take these kinds of risks not every bet is going to pay off. " As it turned out not many folks showed up to participate in Lively which may mean that Google's low key approach didn't get the attention it first expected

[Via Massively]

To say Google has sights set on the gaming industry would be an understatement. After recently purchasing in-game advertising firm Adscape, Google solidified its gaming intentions with the launch of its virtual world Lively and a appearance at the Austin GDC earlier this month.

At this point Google seems specifically focused on the social media aspect of games. Lively is the search engine giants plan to jump into the increasing popular online interaction environment which includes network sites such as Facebook. GamesIndustry.biz has a chance to speak with Kevin Hanna, creative director on Google Lively after his appearance at the AGDC08. Although Hanna wouldn't outline Google's future plans for the gaming industry he made it clear he wishes to grow the virtual space without interrupting the end user.

"This is just my personal preference, but I'd like for it to be invisible, where when it makes sense to have 3D aspects of the web, that everyone will have already downloaded the plug-in, it's one of the first things you do when you install your machine, and you're able to just jump around and play in a creative space."

Hanna is no stranger to the industry, having worked with Microsoft in the early stages of the Xbox and at Disney for "50 some-odd titles." As Google Lively enjoys its time out in beta form the question remains, what is the future for the service? "There may be multiple phases, and new iterations and - I think I can say this - we actually have a lot of content that we held back on. We have a lot of cool stuff that we're going to be releasing iteratively."