Rivers Run Red: Still Runnning (Red?)

 Rivers Run Red, the Webby Award-winning development and marketing firm that is known for its groundbreaking work in Second Life, has officially left Second Life. In the context of the internet this is old news, but the past few years of quiet and the shut down of the Immersive Workspaces project in Second Life stirred some questions this February when Rivers Run Red announced that they had moved their services and clients after using Second Life for nine years. Justin Bovington, the CEO of Rivers Run Red, says that Rivers Run Red has been silently busy, working behind the scenes to stay ahead of the game.

Rivers Run Red has been planning for the future. According to Bovington, the decision to leave Second Life was primarily a financial one. "We just couldn't justify it. The clients were saying they loved it, they really enjoy doing it, but it was a real sticking block going forward in terms of the costs." Instead, Rivers Run Red is moving to the more affordable Kitely. But the price isn't the only benefit of Kitely. Companies in Kitely are able to have their own private region, and unlike Second Life there's no focus on the commercial marketplace. Rivers Run Red didn't need the marketplace, but instead wanted a private area where companies can run securely. Kitely provides that security, and allows companies to create a space that feels like their own, rather than a small piece of someone else's product. Additionally, Kitely allows Rivers Run Red to back up their clients work. Since everything is created by Rivers Run Red's internal design team, there's no reason clients shouldn't be able to do so, but it was never an option in Second Life.

Kitely is only a small piece of what's ahead for Rivers Run Red.  Bovington anticipates that we'll see "the link between physical and virtual getting closer," and Rivers Run Red is planning on it. In response to this prediction, Rivers Run Red is working to allow clients to connect to Immersive Workspaces via tablets or even smart phones, as well as computers. Bovington suggests that the massive success of Facebook indicates a move toward text-based worlds, which will run more successfully on tablets and smartphones that don't have the graphics cards needed to run worlds like Second Life. Bovington said that Rivers Run Red is "looking at tablets to be the next level of immersion. I think we're going to find that proximity based systems like tablets will become part of the virtual experience because we can all bend information between those systems quite successfully." He also emphasized that the Immersive Workspaces project isn't dead. Bovington argues that it's still relevant and useful, but that it needed a new platform after the Second Life Enterprise platform was discontinued. The relevance, immediacy, and security of private worlds that can be accessed by tablet will provide a better system for clients to work together virtually.

Even beyond Kitely and tablets, Rivers Run Red has created a mystery gadget called the MELUX, and is looking to expand into Unity 3D, an engine which allows for the creation of games. Bovington expects that they will remain quiet for a while, but indicates that they're looking to truly take advantage of the niche market of virtual worlds. Rivers Run Red has battled through rumors of failure and cronyism, and their fair share of bad press, but in the end it really comes down to one thing for Bovington: "We are just very enthusiastic entrepreneurs who are trying to create cool stuff."