Linden Lab, which developed and runs Second Life, has announced two acquisitions bought with the aim of making the virtual world more user-friendly and cashing in on the booming virtual goods market.
The Financial Times tech blog reported that the San Francisco-based company said it had bought the Xstreet SL and OnRez website-based marketplaces for virtual goods for undisclosed sums.
It plans to consolidate them on the Xstreet SL platform and incorporate this into the Second Life website, the blog says.
The virtual goods market is estimated to be worth $1.5bn a year worldwide and Second Life residents bought and sold more than $360m of virtual goods and services last year.