But Linden Lab is ditching 30% of its staff first.
Linden Lab, the firm behind virtual world Second Life, plans to launch mobile applications, although it's keeping its powder dry on the details.
The company announced a restructuring yesterday, which will see 30% of its staff shown the door, due to consolidation of its product, engineering and customer support teams.
Linden Lab says its big goals now are to turn Second Life into a browser-based experience, and to integrate it with popular social networks - e.g. Facebook. Until now, people have had to download a desktop client to access the virtual world.
And mobile? Well, it's mentioned once in the press release that announces all this, which refers to "investments intended to enhance ease of use and participation in its virtual goods marketplace through browser-based and mobile applications".
Nothing else is said about what these apps may be, but it's the first sign that Linden Lab may launch an official Second Life mobile app.
Several companies have shown demos of Second Life running on a smartphone in recent years though, including Comverse and Genkii.
It seems mobile will have a big role to play in Linden Lab's efforts to recapture the buzz around Second Life that's dissipated in the last couple of years.
"Ultimately, we want to make Second Life more accessible and relevant to a wider population," says CEO Mark Kingdon.
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