Linden Labs, developer of Second Life, Creatorverse, and dio, came out with a press release announcing they have bought independent game distribution service Desura. Desura will mostly continue to operate as a separate entity, similar to Tumblr's autonomy from parent company Yahoo.
Founded in 1999, Linden Labs set out to create interactive online virtual worlds for people to immerse themselves in. Their first and greatest success remains Second Life, a fully fledged virtual world that's been quietly growing while the mainstream gaming community wasn't paying attention. As of 2010, they gathered 21.3 registered users. A blogger has revealed that their active userbase runs around 600,000 members.
Since then, the company has expanded to creative spaces on tablets with Creatorverse, the web with dio, and interactive fiction with Versu. Earlier this year, they acquired iPad game Blocksworld for a pending worldwide release.
Desura is one of the biggest indie game distributors, offering flexible options for both devs and gamers. The platform is available across Windows, Mac and Linux, and does not impose DRM. Their service is often compared to Steam, although their open nature has made them a better haven for indies.
This move is a step up for both companies. All developers previously under DesuraNET now fall under Linden Labs' umbrella, providing potential funding for future expansion for their service. In turn, Linden Labs becomes a player in the digital distribution space and renews its relevance with the hardcore gaming community. If you buy games via Desura now, this is cause to rejoice.
We've been intermittently covering games released under Desura, such as the Harvest Bundle from Indie Royale.
