Massively^™

We hear news stories concerning the rising cost of food, gas and general living expenses almost daily, but curiously enough, the game industry is proving itself recession-proof. Not only does it seem safe from the downward spiral plaguing all other facets of the economy, but it's on the rise, and is predicted to continue its steep climb for awhile.

According to a recent study by accounting and financial services giant PricewaterhouseCoopers, revenue from the MMO genre of PC gaming will increase to $14.4 billion in 2012 from $6.6 billion in 2007, with special thanks to Blizzard for pulling in over $1 billion on their own in 2007 with World of Warcraft. This is good news for the PC gaming market, as it is predicted that overall, PC gaming will see a revenue slip of 1.2 percent annually, from $3.8 billion in 2007 to $3.6 billion in 2012, thanks to the predicted rise in console popularity. Does this mean the MMO sector will be supporting the PC gaming market in a few years?

In the last couple of years, Linden Lab has grown from around 50 people to (we are told) around 250 people. It is a growth stage of companies that most do not survive, as usually they do something lethally boneheaded in the process.

Another stage that many companies do not survive is their first change of CEO. It is a massive change for the company's table of organization, reporting chains and corporate culture. The first CEO change generally sees a large staff turnover.

That's what usually happens, anyway. While we're not predicting sudden death for Linden Lab, they're getting their first new CEO today.