Owner of JIAN Pets Closes Shop, Announces Leaving Second Life For Roblox

 

Sad news for fans of JIAN pets.  A few days ago, the owner, Kalia Pawtato (formerly Kalia Firelyte), announced on the store blog she was closing her store and departing Second Life. 

 

I also wanted to offer a fond, long time coming farewell as I step away from Second Life and Jian to take new chances, make new mistakes and make fun messes in new places.

Second Life has for the past 20+ years been a major part of my real life. Professionally, it's where I got my start all those years ago and continued to iterate in what I did ... I'm grateful for all the people I've met who also all carried lessons I'll take with me into the future. 

 

Her inworld store at Pounamu Island is mostly closed.  All that's left is an inworld redelivery terminal for resending any past purchases made. Although at (64/153/22), it seems trying to teleport anywhere near it will result in you appearing over a thousand meters above the sim, plummeting downward. Her Marketplace page is still up and running: https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/170150 . She would also have a blog page, Bearpuppy, at https://www.bearpuppy.gg/ .

 

Where she is going may surprise some residents, Roblox.

 

For the past four years I've been working on Roblox and a couple other platforms both for myself and others. My life has changed over the years and so have my interests. It is a natural evolution of my professional trajectory to move to new places where I hope to develop new, fun things.

 

A thread about her departure was started on the Linden Forums by Prokofy Neva, "this is sad news, for those of us in SL that bought and enjoyed these pets." One poster remarked, "Pets and breedables in SL are laggy and obnoxious! They don't belong here, because SL can't handle it. People who make them should go to another platform, where their creations will perform better, and annoy the rest of us less." Others expressed sadness, "Sad to hear another talented creator is departing."

 

One would say, "Jian is one of the contributors that has made my SL infinitely better. ... I will miss Jian. It has been a part of my many weekend jaunts inworld for so long, I cannot recall when it was not. I have the cutest worn pets that I have grown attached to. And I am incredibly grateful they are leaving a redelivery terminal available. And for all they have contributed here and to my inworld experience, I wish Jian great happiness and fun wherever they are!" 

 

Nobody on the Newser staff has a Roblox account, nor do I personally know much about it. While it has a much larger user base, as it's mainly children and teens, it hasn't been thought of as competition for Second Life like VRChat has. 

 

In any event, the Grid has one less longtime talented content creator. 

 

Hat Tip:  Linn Darkwatch

 

Image Credit:  Kyrie Deka

 

Bisyl Shuftan 

 

Linden Lab's Payouts to Residents Exceed 1.1 Billion in Total

 

An article by Venturebeat has gotten attention in recent days. In part, it's because of the amount Linden Lab has invested in Second Life over the years, 1.3 billion US dollars. But it also mentioned something the residents would find more interesting. It's paid out a total of 1.1 billion US dollars to the residents.

It would be mentioned in a letter shared with some residents by Brett Linden

The formal numbers are:  Linden Lab has officially surpassed $1.3 billion invested in building our world and $1.1 billion paid out to our incredible creators. These milestones speak volumes about the vibrant economy and thriving community that we have worked together to build over the years.

Fun fact: Creators in Second Life are 100x more likely to earn over $10K annually compared to Roblox - as highlighted in this VentureBeat article detailing how Second Life remains a shining example of a creator-first metaverse.

This achievement underscores the power of Second Life as a creator-first metaverse and the dedication of our vibrant community.

 

While Roblox does pay it's users for content created, they don't make as much in comparison. They give content creators about a 70 percent share. In contrast, Linden Lab allows Second Life's content creators a 90% share of what they make, taking in ten percent in fees. 

An article in New World Notes would get into this further. According to it's sources, of the 21,152 people that made money in Second Life in 2023, about 30% or 6,446 made over $1000 USD. 1580 would make over $10,000. 138 would make over $100,000. And 14 would make over a million dollars US. 

 

That's quite a bit of money from what some would dismiss as a "game."

 

In contrast, only 0.2%, a fifth of one percent of Roblox users make more than $1000 USD. Venturebeat compared it less than favorably to Second Life, "the business of Roblox today consists of a few winners and more losers, kind of like the triple-A game business today, where the odds of any given person’s success are pretty low."

Hamlet Au would call the businessmen and women of SL about four percent of Second Life's monthly users, about 500,000 in number. While the big moneymakers in the past were land barons such as Anshe Chung, it was his opinion that today an increasing number were in the mesh avatar and accessory business. 

On a personal commentary, there's no statistics available for those who made a little less than a thousand USD, but it's not hard to imagine someone who makes several hundred dollars a year DJing or small-time content creating or some other inworld income, and while one might not be able to make a living that way, a few extra bucks in one's pocket can make life a little more comfortable.

 

Sources: Venturebeat, New World Notes  

Bixyl Shuftan