In the past 2 years, virtual worlds have received a great deal of media coverage. The Gartner Group predicts that by 2011, 80% of internet users will participate in at least 1 virtual world. Globally, sales of items in virtual worlds account for $1.5 billion.

About a year ago, I became fascinated by the almost complete absence of copyrighted material in the virtual goods market. This was especially weird given that the audience was largely teenagers with a provable affinity for celebrities, heroes and copywritten material. What I discovered was that legally, “virtual merchandise” had never existed as a class of rights and therefore belonged to the owner of the core IP (in some cases a recording artist, in others, a studio). As we struggled to think how to use this insight to transform this market, we also noticed that from a distribution perspective, the market was extremely fragmented; globally there are 130 million users split between some 60 different worlds. The problem this presents IP owners is that they would need to seek out dozens of worlds in order to achieve scale.

Today, I am proud to announce the launch of a company built to address this market, bringing incremental revenue to IP owners and virtual world operators while allowing the audience to aspirationally connect with the stars they idolize. We’re upping the ante in virtual goods by introducing “virtual greats” – premium virtual goods.

To achieve this, we have entered into partnership with the world’s most iconic personalities and characters. Starting today, we will begin making announcements about our exclusive license and distribution partners. The story will break in Variety in Hollywood, with a press release and general coverage to follow.

The virtual merchandise we create and market in partnership with celebrities will fall into several categories:

1. Personal Likeness
2. Animations and Signature Moves
3. Catchphrases
4. Clothing Lines
5. Furniture Collections

Most importantly, I’d like to thank all the people who made this launch possible. First my wife and kids. Second, my partner Christian Lassonde and all our colleagues at Millions of Us. Then, our friends and allies at Omnicom – Jonathan Nelson and John Wren. Then Gary Stiffelman, Jamie Young and Alicia Sydney at Ziffren Brittenham. Also Craig Sherman and Joe Hyrkin at Gaia Interactive. And of course, Mitch Kanner.

Finally, and most importantly, our leader. This is a completely separate company from Millions of Us. We searched long and hard for a great CEO, capable of building a game-changing company and leading it to large scale. Dan Jansen is that person. Prior to joining us, Dan led the Media and Entertainment practice at the Boston Consulting Group. He is dynamic, expert and lots of fun to work with.

This is going to be a brilliant ride. Can’t wait.