WorldsPlayer

WorldsPlayer (known internally as “Gamma”) is the latest iteration of Worlds Chat. It was launched in 1998 and is still online to this day.

After the success of Worlds Chat Gold, Worlds, Inc was looking to improve its existing software by introducing better 3D support and avatars. This project would be codenamed Gamma, incorporating Java into its existing codebase for resource management. Midway through development in 1997, the company was acquired by Thom Kidrin, who shifted the focus into corporate advertising. The original name for WorldsPlayer was “Worlds Chat Platinum”.

Shaper is the name of the built-in editor and world-builder available within WorldsPlayer. It retailed for $39¹⁾, including additional perks and a years worth of the VIP subscription.

In 1999, it was discovered that Shaper could be obtained for free from within the WorldsPlayer client by adding an option inside one of its configuration files, making user built worlds a commonality and forcing developers to include methods for accessing these worlds. Prior to this, worlds built by those who purchased Shaper would be uploaded to the official servers as a downloadable world.

Worlds In Asia was a partnership between Worlds Inc and eNewMedia to create and release the WorldsPlayer service in Asia. It was released on September 19th, 2000 at the Renaissance Harbour View Hotel in Hong Kong. It launched with four Asian-themed Worlds included: AsianCity, AsianHub, JapaneseGarden, and Mountain.

Current public releases of the WorldsPlayer client run using a combination of the RenderWare and Accomplish engine. In 2007, Worlds Inc was working on advancing the software by incorporating Granny 3D, an animation engine. Builds were made available and shared to business partners to motivate interest in the upgrade.

During these developments, Worlds, Inc would update their site in anticipation for the release, opting to show a flash-driven promotional animation that read the text “It's a whole new Worlds” followed by “Remergence”. Worlds, Inc would additionally partner with Pearson plc during the development²⁾.