Anyone Here Familiar with Microsoft's "Project Spark"?

[Gramma Fiddlesticks]

It's being discontinued, but reading about it , the descriptions of the product that I can find  make it sound quite a lot like  the Lab's Project Sansar. I'm really curious about exactly why MS is shutting it down, but can't find any real information.

Also wondering if their shutting down will affect Linden Lab's plans? Does anyone know?? 

[KarenMichelle Lane]

Yeah, it's being shut down:

http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2016/05/15/microsoft-shutting-project-spark-down/#gref

and I quote:

"Project Spark, Microsoft’s odd ‘make your own’ game, is shutting down. No longer available for download, Project Spark will vanish completely this August when its servers are shut off."

Additional reading...

http://forums.projectspark.com/yaf_postst214854.aspx

Microsoft could keep the servers up and running with no new development allowed like Blue Mars but that is only done when you are planning on selling the technology to a 3rd party. Microsoft is shutting down the Servers in August so existing developers can use this time to capture any effort they want and try to port it elsewhere IMHO. With no plans to sell this technology to anyone, at this juncture, it will be gone in August.

[Parhelion Palou]

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Gramma Fiddlesticks wrote:

It's being discontinued, but reading about it , the descriptions of the product that I can find  make it sound quite a lot like  the Lab's Project Sansar. I'm really curious about exactly why MS is shutting it down, but can't find any real information.

Also wondering if their shutting down will affect Linden Lab's plans? Does anyone know?? 

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Hi Gramma!

I've heard of Project Spark but never got into it. It looks like MS basically got out of Project Spark last October when they removed their marketplace and announced they wouldn't be providing any more downloadable content. They wanted to leave it open to creators ... as in, not work on it themselves any more. The recent news is MS preparing to close down their servers too. I didn't see any stated reason for shutting it down, but the likely reason is last fall they figured they wouldn't make money on it and/or it didn't fit in with their future development.

It won't affect LL's plans for Sansar. Sansar will provide virtual worlds to companies and individuals. It's designed to work well with high-end virtual reality devices; LL is hoping companies wanting to get in on the (possible) VR goggle craze will rent space from them. Companies likely hire people to build the worlds for them (LL just provides the space). The people who buy Sansar worlds (experiences) will advertise them and bring in their own users. There are similarities between Sansar and Project Spark, but the target market is different.

 

 

[wherorangi]

is probably just a business focus rationalisation

Microsoft has Minecraft as their experience creation tool for the low-end. Hololens for the high-end future