Developing a virtual world from the comfort of your bedroom isn't an easy task, and the difficulty in creating massively multiplayer worlds has long been a problem for academics wishing to carry out research on the subject. That's why Richard Bartle, virtual world guru and the father of MUD, is quietly optimistic about a new platform that should make things a lot easier.

Multiverse calls itself "the complete MMOG platform" and is currently in beta, allowing would-be developers to create their own MMOGs "for less money and in less time than you could have dreamed possible." Grand talk, but the business model is friendly to backroom coders and academics alike, with Multiverse only making profit if you do. The idea is centred around a common platform, with gamers able to switch worlds easily without the huge culture shock caused by jumping between today's MMOs—Kothuria, a sample game, has been created as an example.

Bartle is hopeful about the impact of this development tool for academics as well as at home: "Home users could set up small virtual worlds on their own, in the same way they currently set up web pages. If that happens, virtual worlds will really take off." However, as he rightly points out, there must be some catch.

[via Terra Nova]