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Virtual reality world Second Life was born in the United States, but 61 per cent of its active residents are Europeans, according to a study by research firm comScore.
The number of active German residents exceeds the number of active residents in the United States, although growth rates in the US are the highest worldwide, said comScore, which specializes in measuring various kinds of internet usage.
Created by Linden Lab in San Francisco, Second Life is a virtual world where users create characters known as avatars, buy property and interact with other players. The world also has its own virtual currency, which can be exchanged for US dollars.
More than 6 million user accounts have been created in Second Life, up from about 1 million at the end of 2006, but the number of active users is far lower.
The comScore study said users totaled 1.3 million in March, up 46 per cent from January. More than 60 per cent of users were male.
Germany had 209,000 active residents in Second Life, or 16 per cent, compared with 207,000 from the United States, 104,000 from France and 72,000 from Britain.
The study, based on a research panel of more than 2 million computer users, excluded public computers such as those in internet cafes.
Linden Lab's own March statistics showed 26.8 per cent of active residents were from the United States, 13.5 per cent from Germany, 8.2 per cent from France and 6.7 per cent from Britain.
"It is little wonder that bricks and mortar businesses are seeing Second Life as a virtual-world way of accessing a global, real-world customer base," comScore's Europe head, Bob Ivins, said in a statement.
Many global corporations including carmaker Toyota, music label Sony BMG, news and information group Reuters Plc, computer maker Sun Microsystems and technology news company Cnet are some of the companies with a presence in Second Life.
- REUTERS
