Starwood was one of the first big brands to establish a presence in Second Life, with their much-hyped Virtual Aloft hotel property. And now Starwood is one of the first brands to retrench and shutter its SL experience.
So what's up? Today, I had lunch with Giff Constable of The Electric Sheep Company (Aloft's in-world builder.) He let me know that Aloft had literally been "boxed up" for a rework and that the island may even be shut down temporarily.
According to Giff's blog post on this topic, Starwood and ESC "felt that people were getting confused about what the aloft project in SL was and was not meant to be. It may make more sense to actually close the project while it is not in active use, re-open it for certain functions, and then close again."
As of now, Aloft Island is in fact closed to resident traffic. The picture above shows the aerial view of Aloft, as seen on the Second Life map. The large tan rectangle near the center of the island blocks the hotel rooftop that was previously visible on the map - I assume that's the top of the giant cardboard box ESC has placed over the entire hotel structure. Try to teleport in and you will be refused access.
Smart move - maybe even a brave one.
If you've been following my SL-related posts, articles and my statements in the press, you're well aware that I felt Virtual Aloft hardly presented a positive brand experience. Perhaps this wasn't the project's main goal -- according to Giff, Virtual Aloft was actually about R&D rather than marketing. But it was open to the SL population (even if residents rarely came), and any time a company presents itself to an audience it does make a brand impression, whether it intends to or not. I think Starwood and ESC realized that it is better to make no impression than to make a bad one.
So for now -- Goodbye Aloft, we hardly knew ye.
