Corporate History
In June 2004, There Inc. went through a restructuring and announced major layoffs. In April 2005, There Inc. announced that the commercial side of the company would be branching out to form two companies: Forterra Systems (the government-contracted client) and Makena Technologies (the commercial client).
In 2006, Makena Technologies announced a partnership with MTV Networks to provide the technology platform for their virtual worlds which include Virtual Laguna Beach, The Virtual Hills, Virtual Pimp My Ride, Virtual Real World, Virtual Newport Harbor, Virtual VMAs (Video Music Awards), Virtual Kaya, Virtual Rob and Big and Virtual Life of Ryan. Makena Technologies also has a partnership with Trilogy Studios.
Corporate brands that had a presence in There.com included Coca-Cola, CosmoGIRL!, Humane Society of the U.S., Capital Music Group, Paramount Studios, bebe, NaCo USA, K-SWISS, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Nike, Levi's, and Scion.
In 2008, Makena Technologies launched ThereConnect, allowing There.com members to showcase their in-world profiles, skills, groups and upcoming events on their Facebook pages. They also announced ThereIM, a lightweight instant messaging client where users can communicate with other members’ avatars, whether or not they are signed into the virtual world.
On March 9, 2010 at 11:59 PM Pacific Standard Time, There.com shut down its virtual world for the final time. The CEO of There, inc., has stated very clearly (both privately and publicly) that Makena has no plans of re-opening There.com. There.com offered refunds for all "Therebucks" purchased between February 1, 2010 and March 9, 2010. As of April 1, refunds are no longer available.
On May 18, 2011, Michael Wilson announced that There.com will be re-opening.
On May 2, 2012, There re-opened to the public.
Read more about this topic: There (virtual world)
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