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Linden Lab

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Linden Lab
Information
Type Private
Industry Virtual worlds
Founded 1999
Founder Philip Rosedale
Headquarters San Francisco, California, United States
Notable Personnel Brad Oberwager (executive chairman), Philip Rosedale (chief technology officer)
Products Second Life; formerly Sansar, Blocksworld, Desura, Tilia
Website https://www.lindenlab.com


Linden Lab (legal name Linden Research, Inc.) is an American technology company that develops and operates the virtual world Second Life. Philip Rosedale founded the company in 1999, and it launched Second Life in 2003. Linden Lab is headquartered in San Francisco and has a second office in Atlanta.[1][2][3]

Its main virtual reality work consisted of two projects. In 2014 it released experimental Oculus Rift viewers for Second Life, and from 2014 to 2020 it built Sansar, a platform for user-created social VR spaces that ran on the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.[4][5] Linden Lab sold Sansar in March 2020 to concentrate on Second Life. Chief executive Ebbe Altberg said at the time that the company had moved into VR "a bit early".[6][7] An investment group led by Randy Waterfield and Brad Oberwager has owned the company since early 2021.[8]

Reviewed 6 October 2026. Re-checked founding, funding, CEO succession, Altberg's death, diversification products, Sansar dates and pricing, Sansar sale, 2020-2021 ownership change and cloud move, High Fidelity investment, Tilia and Thunes deal, current leadership and board, and Oculus Rift viewer history against the cited Linden Lab releases and press articles. About review dates.

History

Founding and early years

Rosedale left his job as chief technology officer of RealNetworks in 1999 to build a virtual-reality environment. In a 2007 interview with Inc., he said he opened the company's first office in mid-1999 in San Francisco's Hayes Valley, on Linden Alley, "That's where we got the name of the company." He also said that Second Life "was just unfundable" in its early years. Mitch Kapor, the founder of Lotus Development, invested in 2001, after Rosedale had put in about a million dollars of his own money.[1]

At first the company worked on haptic hardware. Its prototype, known as "The Rig", was meant to give people full-body access to a virtual environment, and a basic virtual environment, Linden World, was developed around the same time so that the hardware could be tested. Linden World opened as a limited alpha in March 2002. According to Engadget, The Rig was later shoved in a box and largely forgotten.[9] That world became Second Life, which the company released in 2003.[2] Rosedale told GamesBeat in 2024 that the company had raised only US$25 million before it reached profitability in 2005.[10]

At the 59th Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards in January 2008, Second Life was one of three winners in a user-generated content category, alongside Pinball Construction Set and Quake.[11]

Leadership changes, 2008-2014

On 14 March 2008 Rosedale announced that he would step down as chief executive and become chairman of the board. Engadget reported that Kapor, then chairman and the company's largest investor, would stay on the board.[12] Mark Kingdon, previously chief executive of the digital marketing firm Organic, was named to succeed him as CEO from 15 May 2008.[13]

In June 2010 Linden Lab laid off 30 percent of its staff. It closed its offices in the United Kingdom and Singapore, cut the Seattle office's headcount in half and dropped its enterprise group. TechCrunch reported that the company wanted to make Second Life more browser-based and move it toward social networks.[14] On 24 June 2010 Kingdon stepped down. Rosedale returned as interim CEO, and chief financial officer Bob Komin also took on the role of chief operating officer.[15]

Rod Humble, a former executive vice president of Electronic Arts' EA Play label who was most recently associated with The Sims franchise, was named CEO in December 2010. When Game Developer reported the appointment, the company said it had more than US$75 million in revenue, had been profitable for three years in a row (excluding restructuring and non-stock compensation expenses) and had 220 employees.[16] Under Humble the company began making products other than Second Life (see below). Humble announced in January 2014 that he was leaving to start his own company.[17] Ebbe Altberg, a former chief operating officer of BranchOut and senior vice president of media products at Yahoo!, became CEO in February 2014.[18]

Diversification, 2012-2014

From 2012 Linden Lab released several smaller creative products alongside Second Life. Patterns, a digital space in which players build simple and complex structures, came out in 2012, and Creatorverse, an iPad app for creating animations, was announced at the same time.[19] In January 2013 it bought the iPad game Blocksworld, and in July 2013 it bought Desura, a digital distribution service for PC games. By then its products also included dio, a shared creative space on the web, and Versu, an interactive fiction experience.[20][21]

Most of these products were dropped under Altberg. On 19 February 2014 the company ended development and support for dio, Versu and Creatorverse, citing user engagement, revenue and the resources needed to keep them running.[22] It stopped developing and selling Patterns in October 2014 and sold Desura to Bad Juju Games in November 2014. In both announcements it said it wanted to focus on its next-generation virtual world while continuing to improve Second Life and grow Blocksworld.[23][24]

Sansar era, 2014-2020

On 11 July 2014 Linden Lab confirmed that it was building a next-generation virtual world "in the spirit of Second Life", with a beta targeted for 2015. It said Second Life would keep running alongside the new platform.[25] That project became Project Sansar; its development and launch are described in the XR work section below. In March 2017 Bing Gordon, chief product officer of the venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers and a former Electronic Arts executive, joined the board of directors.[26]

In 2019 Linden Lab unveiled Tilia, a registered money services business and licensed money transmitter for virtual economies.[2] In the same year it paused development and promotion of Blocksworld, saying that its "primary focus continues to be on Second Life and Sansar". Blocksworld's servers were shut down on 17 June 2020.[27] Linden Lab sold Sansar to Wookey Project Corp. on 25 March 2020 and kept no ownership or management role in it.[6]

New ownership, 2020-present

In July 2020 Linden Lab announced that it had agreed to be acquired by an investment group led by Randy Waterfield and Brad Oberwager. The deal needed approval from U.S. financial regulators because Tilia was a licensed money transmitter.[28] On 5 January 2021 the company said that the regulatory review was complete and that Linden Lab was under new ownership. In the same post it said that all of Second Life's services and databases had been moved from its own servers to Amazon's cloud.[8][29]

Altberg died on 3 June 2021 while still chief executive.[30][31] On 13 January 2022 High Fidelity, which Rosedale had co-founded, invested in Linden Lab. The deal included cash and distributed computing patents, some High Fidelity staff joined Linden Lab, and Rosedale returned as a strategic advisor. The announcement described Oberwager as chairman of Linden Lab.[32][33]

Tilia, which had been founded at Linden Lab, announced a strategic investment from J.P. Morgan Payments in October 2022.[34] In April 2024 the payments company Thunes agreed to buy Tilia from Linden Lab, which was then its majority owner. As part of the deal, the two companies agreed to a five-year exclusive partnership under which Thunes would provide payment processing and payouts to Linden Lab. The announcement quoted Oberwager as CEO of Linden Lab.[35] A Linden Lab support article last updated on 4 June 2025 says the acquisition is complete.[36]

On 29 October 2024 Linden Lab announced that Rosedale was returning full time as chief technology officer and would rejoin the board. Oberwager, identified as executive chairman, said the company had "divested ourselves of unnecessary projects" since the acquisition and had grown its revenue and profitability.[37] In a December 2024 GamesBeat report, Oberwager said that Linden Lab's 10 percent cut of transactions between residents enabled it to employ around 160 people.[10] In March 2026 Linden Lab hired Jerome Despret, a former engineering leader at Electronic Arts, Maxis, Riot Games and Zynga, as senior vice president of engineering.[3] As of October 2026 its leadership page lists Oberwager as executive chairman and Rosedale as chief technology officer. Its board is made up of Oberwager, J. Randall Waterfield, Rosedale and Raj Date.[2]

Chief executives

Name Tenure as CEO Notes
Philip Rosedale 1999 to May 2008 Founder; became chairman of the board in 2008[12]
Mark Kingdon 15 May 2008 to June 2010 Previously CEO of Organic[13][15]
Philip Rosedale June 2010 to December 2010 Interim CEO[15][16]
Rod Humble December 2010 to January 2014 Former Electronic Arts executive[16][17]
Ebbe Altberg February 2014 to June 2021 Died in office[18][31]

Products

Product Type Years with Linden Lab Status
Second Life 3D virtual world 2003 to present Operated by Linden Lab[2]
Patterns Building game 2012 to 2014 Development and sales ended October 2014[19][23]
Creatorverse 2D physics sandbox app for iPad 2012 to 2014 Discontinued February 2014[19][22]
dio Shared creative space on the web 2013 to 2014 Discontinued February 2014[21][22]
Versu Interactive fiction system 2013 to 2014 Discontinued by Linden Lab February 2014[21][22]
Blocksworld Build-and-play game for iPad 2013 to 2020 Acquired January 2013; global iPad release August 2013; servers shut down June 2020[20][38][27]
Desura Digital distribution service for PC games 2013 to 2014 Acquired July 2013; sold to Bad Juju Games November 2014[21][24]
Sansar Social VR platform 2014 to 2020 Sold to Wookey Project Corp. in March 2020[25][6]
Tilia Payments and money services platform 2019 to 2025 Acquired by Thunes; completion confirmed June 2025[2][36]

XR work

Second Life viewers

In May 2014 Linden Lab released an Oculus Rift "Project Viewer" for Second Life, which it described as a first step toward adding Rift support to the default viewer. The viewer detected and calibrated the headset automatically, kept the full interface and HUDs usable in the headset, and added a first-person view in which head tracking moved the view while the mouse stayed free for the cursor.[4] Support for the Oculus Rift DK2 followed in October 2014 in a further project viewer.[39]

The Rift viewer never became part of the standard viewer. In July 2016 a Linden Lab community manager said the company could not say "when or even if" it would release another Rift project viewer. The statement added that "due to some inherent limitations with SL, it may well not be possible to achieve the performance needed for a good VR experience", which it gave as one reason for building Sansar as a separate platform optimized for VR.[40]

Sansar

Linden Lab opened applications for a "Creator Preview" of Project Sansar on 26 April 2016. It described Sansar as a platform on which people could create, share and ultimately monetize social experiences for head-mounted displays such as the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, as well as for PCs and, later, mobile devices.[41] The first invitations went out at the end of August 2016, by which time more than 6,500 people had applied.[42]

Sansar opened to the public as a "creator beta" on 31 July 2017, with support for the Oculus Rift, the HTC Vive and Windows PCs in desktop mode. Instead of one continuous world like Second Life, it hosted discrete experiences, each with its own link and room for about 35 users before automatic instancing created copies. Creators could host three experiences for free.[5] Linden Lab's beta announcement said that avatar lip-sync and facial animation came from Speech Graphics technology, driven by the user's microphone, and that IKinema's inverse kinematics middleware mirrored users' hand and arm movements on their avatars. Paid subscriptions started at US$9.99 per month.[43] In April 2018 Sansar became available on Viveport, which Linden Lab said was the first time it could be downloaded from a VR store. The release added an experience recreating Aech's Basement from Ready Player One, based on Industrial Light & Magic's design for the film.[44]

In September 2019 Linden Lab relaunched Sansar around live events, quests and an expanded avatar editor, and said it was "no longer simply a platform for virtual reality".[45] After the sale in March 2020, Altberg told Engadget that Sansar still had "quite a way of runway" before it could become cash-positive. Engadget reported that Altberg admitted the company had leapt into VR "a bit early", and he said that "VR is still where mobile was somewhere in the '90s."[7]

Later position

When High Fidelity invested in Linden Lab in 2022, Rosedale said: "Big Tech giving away VR headsets and building a metaverse on their ad-driven, behavior-modification platforms isn't going to create a magical, single digital utopia for everyone."[32] With the Sansar sale, Linden Lab said it would focus on Second Life.[6] The Second Life downloads page offers the official desktop viewer, the third-party Firestorm viewer and Second Life Mobile for Android and iOS; it does not list a VR viewer.[46] The Second Life article covers its VR history in more detail.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Philip Rosedale, as told to Michael Fitzgerald (2007-02-01). "How I Did It: Philip Rosedale, CEO, Linden Lab". Inc.. https://www.inc.com/magazine/20070201/hidi-rosedale.html. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "About". Linden Lab. https://www.lindenlab.com/about. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Linden Lab Appoints Jerome Despret as Senior Vice President of Engineering". Linden Lab. 2026-03-23. https://lindenlab.com/press-release/linden-lab-appoints-jerome-despret-as-senior-vice-president-of-engineering. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Julian Benson (2014-05-29). "Second Life adds Oculus Rift support". PCGamesN. https://www.pcgamesn.com/second-life-adds-oculus-rift-support. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Ben Lang (2017-07-31). "'Second Life' Successor 'Sansar' Launches Open Beta Today, Pricing Revealed". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/second-life-successor-sansar-launches-open-beta-today-pricing-revealed/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 David Jagneaux (2020-03-25). "Linden Lab Sells Sansar To Wookey Project To 'Streamline' Focus On Second Life". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/linden-lab-sells-sansar-focus-second-life/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Nick Summers (2020-03-27). "Why 'Second Life' developer Linden Lab gave up on its VR spin-off". Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2020-03-27-why-second-life-linden-lab-sold-sansar.html. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "2021 Update: Life in the Cloud". Second Life Community. Linden Lab. 2021-01-05. https://community.secondlife.com/news/featured-news/2021-update-life-in-the-cloud-r1014/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  9. ↑ Tateru Nino (2010-06-26). "The Virtual Whirl: A brief history of Second Life". Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2010-06-26-the-virtual-whirl-a-brief-history-of-second-life.html. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Dean Takahashi (2024-12-19). "Linden Lab has spent $1.3B building Second Life and paid $1.1B to creators". GamesBeat. https://gamesbeat.com/linden-lab-has-spent-1-3b-building-second-life-and-paid-1-1b-to-creators/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  11. ↑ Tom Magrino (2008-01-08). "CES '08: Nintendo wins second Emmy". GameSpot. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ces-08-nintendo-wins-second-emmy/1100-6184421/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Tateru Nino (2008-03-14). "Philip Rosedale stepping down as Linden Lab CEO". Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2008-03-14-philip-rosedale-stepping-down-as-linden-lab-ceo.html. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Chris Remo (2008-04-22). "Linden Installs Mark Kingdon As New CEO". Game Developer. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/linden-installs-mark-kingdon-as-new-ceo. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  14. ↑ Leena Rao (2010-06-09). "Linden Lab Lays Off 30 Percent Of Staff". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2010/06/09/linden-labs-lays-off-30-percent-of-staff/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 "Linden Lab Announces Management Changes". PR Newswire. Linden Lab. 2010-06-24. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/linden-lab-announces-management-changes-97074779.html. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Leigh Alexander (2010-12-23). "Rod Humble Becomes Linden Lab's CEO". Game Developer. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/rod-humble-becomes-linden-labs-ceo. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "CEO Rod Humble departs Linden Labs". MCV/Develop. 2014-01-29. https://mcvuk.com/development-news/ceo-rod-humble-departs-linden-labs/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Ebbe Altberg Joins Linden Lab as CEO". Linden Lab. 2014-02-05. https://lindenlab.com/press-release/ebbe-altberg-joins-linden-lab-as-ceo. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Dawn Lim (2012-10-15). "Linden Lab grabs its second life with creativity games". Nextgov. https://www.nextgov.com/digital-government/2012/10/linden-lab-grabs-its-second-life-creativity-games/58761/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Linden Lab Acquires Blocksworld". Linden Lab. 2013-01-24. https://lindenlab.com/press-release/linden-lab-r-acquires-blocksworld. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 "Linden Lab Acquires Desura". Linden Lab. 2013-07-10. https://lindenlab.com/press-release/linden-lab-acquires-desura. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 "Linden Lab Refocuses Product Offering". Linden Lab. 2014-02-19. https://lindenlab.com/press-release/linden-lab-refocuses-product-offering. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 "The Conclusion of Patterns". Linden Lab. 2014-10-09. https://lindenlab.com/press-release/the-conclusion-of-patterns. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 "Bad Juju Games Acquires Desura from Linden Lab". Linden Lab. 2014-11-05. https://lindenlab.com/press-release/bad-juju-games-acquires-desura-from-linden-lab. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Linden Lab Is Developing The Next-Generation Virtual World". Linden Lab. 2014-07-11. https://lindenlab.com/press-release/linden-lab-is-developing-the-next-generation-virtual-world. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  26. ↑ "Bing Gordon Joins Linden Lab Board of Directors". Linden Lab. 2017-03-21. https://lindenlab.com/press-release/bing-gordon-joins-linden-lab-board-of-directors. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Inara Pey (2019-07-30). "Lab pauses Blocksworld development and promotion". Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld. https://modemworld.me/2019/07/30/lab-pauses-blocksworld-development-and-promotion/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  28. ↑ Inara Pey (2020-07-09). "Linden Lab announces it is to be acquired". Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld. https://modemworld.me/2020/07/09/linden-lab-announces-it-is-to-be-acquired/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  29. ↑ Inara Pey (2021-01-05). "Linden Lab gives cloud migration update & new ownership announcement (updated)". Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld. https://modemworld.me/2021/01/05/linden-lab-gives-cloud-migration-acquisition-update/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  30. ↑ Inara Pey (2021-06-04). "In memoriam: Ebbe Altberg". Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld. https://modemworld.me/2021/06/04/in-memoriam-ebbe-altberg/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Chris Kerr (2021-06-07). "Obituary: Ebbe Altberg, CEO of Second Life developer Linden Lab". Game Developer. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/programming/obituary-ebbe-altberg-ceo-of-i-second-life-i-developer-linden-lab. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 "High Fidelity Invests in Second Life". Linden Lab. 2022-01-13. https://lindenlab.com/press-release/high-fidelity-invests-in-second-life. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  33. ↑ Taylor Hatmaker (2022-01-13). "Second Life's creator is returning to advise the original metaverse company". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2022/01/13/second-life-philip-rosedale-returns-linden-lab-high-fidelity/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  34. ↑ "Tilia Secures Strategic Investment from J.P. Morgan". PR Newswire. Tilia. 2022-10-18. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tilia-secures-strategic-investment-from-jp-morgan-301652447.html. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  35. ↑ "Thunes announces agreement to acquire Tilia LLC". Linden Lab. 2024-04-23. https://lindenlab.com/press-release/thunes-announces-agreement-to-acquire-tilia-llc. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 "Thunes Acquisition FAQ". Linden Lab Support. Linden Lab. 2025-06-04. https://lindenlab.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/31000176356-thunes-acquisition-faq. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  37. ↑ Inara Pey (2024-10-29). "Lab announces Philip Rosedale appointed as CTO". Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld. https://modemworld.me/2024/10/29/lab-announces-philip-rosedale-appointed-as-cto/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  38. ↑ "Build, Play, and Share - Linden Lab's Blocksworld Brings Imaginations to Life on the iPad". Linden Lab. 2013-08-01. https://lindenlab.com/press-release/build-play-and-share-linden-labs-blocksworld-brings-imaginations-to-life-on-the-ipad. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  39. ↑ Ben Lang (2014-10-15). "Second Life Now Has Official Oculus Rift DK2 Support". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/second-life-now-official-oculus-rift-dk2-support/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  40. ↑ David Jagneaux (2016-07-26). "'Second Life' Indefinitely Suspends Official Oculus Rift CV1 Support". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/second-life-suspends-oculus-rift-support-vr/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  41. ↑ "Linden Lab Opens Applications for Creator Preview of Project Sansar". Linden Lab. 2016-04-26. https://lindenlab.com/press-release/linden-lab-opens-applications-for-creator-preview-of-project-sansar. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  42. ↑ "Linden Lab Begins Inviting Creators to Sansar, the Platform for Creating Social VR Experiences". Linden Lab. 2016-08-31. https://lindenlab.com/press-release/linden-lab-begins-inviting-creators-to-sansar-the-platform-for-creating-social-vr-experiences. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  43. ↑ "The Metaverse's Next Chapter: Sansar Opens to the Public in Creator Beta". Linden Lab. https://lindenlab.com/press-release/the-metaverses-next-chapter-sansar-opens-to-the-public-in-creator-beta. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  44. ↑ "Sansar Available on Viveport with New Content Inspired by "Ready Player One"". Linden Lab. 2018-04-12. https://lindenlab.com/press-release/sansar-available-on-viveport-with-new-content-inspired-by-ready-player-one. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  45. ↑ "Your World is Waiting: The Makers of Second Life Reimagine Sansar as an Immersive Destination for Gaming, Commerce & Live Events". Linden Lab. 2019-09-24. https://lindenlab.com/press-release/your-world-is-waiting-the-makers-of-second-life-reimagine-sansar-as-an-immersive-destination-for-gaming-commerce-live-events. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  46. ↑ "Downloads". Second Life. Linden Lab. https://secondlife.com/downloads. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
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