IMVU, an online community where members use 3D avatars to meet new people, chat, create and play, today announced that the company has partnered with Vivox Inc., the market leader in voice services for online games, virtual worlds and the increasingly social Web, to bring voice chat to the IMVU community.
“We’re excited to partner with Vivox to offer our growing community the ability to have richer conversations using our new voice capabilities,” said Lee Clancy, SVP of Product Management and General Manager of Direct Revenue. “We’re already seeing healthy adoption and we expect voice usage to rise steadily as our members become more familiar with the benefits of this fun new feature.”
This natural partnership gives the millions of IMVU members the ability to speak to one another using their real voices within IMVU. In addition, members can choose from a selection of 25 voice fonts, which generate voice effects such as the “inner munchkin,” “super model” and “as-if attitude.” Voice fonts make it easy to role-play, joke or to remain anonymous.
“Launching voice chat capabilities to IMVU’s loyal and enthusiastic community is a great moment for Vivox,” said Rob Seaver, CEO at Vivox, Inc. “Voice provides an unparalleled medium to connect people like no other form of communication. We’re proud to be working with IMVU and its entire community.”
IMVU users can access free voice chat services automatically by using a headset or their computer’s built-in microphone. Voice fonts can be purchased from IMVU directly for 990 IMVU Credits, which is the virtual currency used within IMVU to purchase goods. IMVU has the world’s largest virtual goods catalog with more than three million items, and voice effects are yet another virtual good that drives strong interaction among IMVU users.
About IMVU, Inc.
IMVU Inc. (www.imvu.com) is an online community where members use 3D avatars to meet new people, chat, create and play. IMVU has reached 40 million registered users, 6 million unique visitors per month and a $25+ million annualized revenue run rate. IMVU has the world’s largest virtual goods catalog of more than 3 million items, almost all of which are created by its own members. Founded in 2004, IMVU is backed by venture investors Menlo Ventures, Allegis Capital, Bridgescale Partners and Best Buy Capital and is located in Palo Alto, CA. IMVU is hiring for many positions, log onto www.imvu.com/jobs for more information.
About Vivox, Inc.
Vivox, Inc., founded in 2005 and based in Natick, MA, is the global leader in HD voice services for online games, virtual worlds and the social Web. Supporting 20 million users in more than 180 countries, and over 2 billion minutes of voice chat per month, the Vivox Network is the world’s largest cross-platform voice service provider. For more information on Vivox and the power of voice, visit www.vivox.com.
