Rivers Run Red and AnsheChung Studios, two real companies doing business in the virtual world of Second Life, have announced a strategic alliance, promising to share "first look" options on future development opportunities between the two entities. Design firm Rivers Run Red has been involved in Second Life for three years; its clients include Disney and Buena Vista International, and its efforts in using Second Life to prototype marketing material for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy were recently profiled in the blog New World Notes. AnsheChung Studios is operated by Second Life avatar Anshe Chung, the virtual world's most powerful land baron, claiming 12,000 patrons and employing 15 staffers in its Chinese support center. Chung was recently featured on the cover of BusinessWeek magazine.

The two companies will coordinate efforts in developing branded virtual world content and environments for clients, targeting between 20,000 to 100,000 users. At the time of this writing, Second Life is populated by over 200,000 "active" accounts, and sees about 6,000 live users logged in at any given time. The alliance even has plans outside of Second Life. Rivers Run Red CEO Justin Bovington said in a prepared statement that "We are also developing cross platform solutions--mobile to web and beyond. This agreement will be the first of many in the coming months, as we seek to expand our operations into the emerging social networking market."

This development is significant, as it involves two successful companies with an in-depth understanding of the Second Life business and cultural landscape joining forces to bring outside clients into the virtual world. As far as I know, Anshe Chung owns the most land in Second Life, meaning that those who rent from her are a captive audience when it comes to branded content. Chung has succeeded in creating themed landscapes where like-minded virtual-world residents congregate, allowing marketers to potentially target specific demographics. Few other "land barons" are able to provide such an offering to outside business, so it makes sense why Rivers Run Red would have picked AnsheChung Studios to ally with.

I believe the alliance threatens The Electric Sheep Company, a younger firm comprised of experienced individuals, seemingly operating in the same space. It will be interesting to see how these efforts compete, what differentiators each offers, and how the culture of Second Life citizens will be affected by the impending influx of official real-world marketing efforts.