LEGO Creating an Online World

Posted by admin

May 4, 2008

It is no doubt that lots of companies are looking to market online and run interesting and unique viral marketing campaigns via the web. However, some of these marketing campaigns are just plain cooler than others, like the new online virtual world LEGO is trying to build.

Every year, kids spend a combined 5 billion hours playing with LEGOS…yes, 5 billion hours. This new online world will act as a massively multiplayer online game and be kind of like a Second Life built out of LEGOS.

“We want to make the connection between digital play and physical play,” said Mark William Hansen who is in charge of Lego Universe. “The physical experience is our core, the digital experience will never replace the physical experience, but it’s a nice add-on.”

The game’s internal currency will allow users to buy bricks, which can in turn be used to build digital creations or add onto creations already in progress.

LEGO Universe is not only a marketing gimmick, LEGO is turning it into one of their products and plans to begin selling PC Versions of the game next year.

Around two dozen LEGO employees are working on building the game, while another 70 or so individuals are working on creating the online world.

Another cool feature of LEGO Universe is that users will have the ability to use all 6000 bricks that LEGO creates and the option to have their digital creations physically created and shipped.

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