Gindipple has recently released a snapshot of average user concurrency statistics for Sansar over the past six months or so, automatically scraped from the figures of how many avatars are in what experiences from the Sansar Atlas listing. Please click on the image to load it in a larger size:
The upper part of the diagram shows daily average concurrent Sansar users over the past year. There are a lot of peaks and valleys in the data, but what’s disappointing is that the figure never rises above 20 average concurrent users. Now, I have been to events in Sansar that have had up to 35 avatars present (such as the popular Product Meetups), but you have to keep in mind that these are daily averages, so they would be lower.
The smoother data on the bottom of the diagram is monthly average concurrent Sansar users. Notice that there was a slight dip over June, then it rises again.
What’s clear is that the average number of Sansar users is not rising over time; it’s staying flat. So how can Linden Lab attract more people to Sansar, and keep them coming back?
Well, I would argue that adding new features such as custom avatars is a big step toward providing the kind of platform that attracts content creators, who in turn will attract consumers. Bumping up the number of free experiences you can create from 3 to 20 was also a good step in fostering creativity. Finally, I know that a permissions/licensing system for content creators (which Landon told us would be coming sooner rather than later) will also attract new investment in the platform.
What do you think Linden Lab needs to do to attract and keep new users? Should they list Sansar on Steam and the Oculus store? Sound off in the comments, thanks!
Sansar MIGHT attract more use if there were a two-way link with Second Life. By that I mean you live in SL but go to play, or dance, or go to a museum, or an education conference, or shop, or experience something in Sansar and then teleport back home to Second Life.
How many more residents I don’t know. But several SL users I’ve talked to cite their main objection is the don’t want to start over. Since they have a lot invested in their inventory. Before someone objections this is not a statically significant sample. I freely admit that it is just SL users I have chatted with about Sansar.
Over time more and more of SL users might migrate exclusively to Sansar particularly if LL sets up residential experience areas in Sansar. As VR gets better and the equipment less expensive and more comfortable.
From a “layman-user” perspective: to get more mainstream users into VR the hardware requirements could be lowered. I am personally not a gamer but believe in digitalization of services and I need to get a new machine to participate in Sansar……..