Utherverse Digital Inc., a company based in Vancouver dedicated to growing the “virtual world web,” has created ThereNewWorld.com, a takeoff of There.com that has captured 800-plus former users of There.com and bills itself as “a new 3D virtual world for all ex There.com users”, according to Business in Vancouver (BIV.)

One of There.com’s competitors, Second Life, was also quick to welcome so-called ‘Thereians’ into the fold, as Blue Linden recently wrote about over on the Second Life blog. SL created a landing page for displaced residents and Blue also noted that some SL residents helped the Thereians make the transition to SL.

But ThereNewWorld.com does more than just accept residents: it also transfers currency, having converted 50 million Therebucks (approximately $2.8-million USD) into Rays, the currency used by Utherverse, even though this money can’t be converted into real dollars. They have also transferred virtual goods and services from There.com.

“That’s really the shame in all of this,” said Brian Shuster, Utherverse’s CEO, to BIV. “If you spent years as a Thereian acquiring virtual goods and assets … all that just disappears.”

The CEO notes that Utherverse generates $10-million in annual revenues and is experiencing 25% growth, with 600,000 active users. Its main revenue stream, according to the CEO, is “VIP subscriptions that allow virtual world builders to obtain better tools and accessories for designing and developing worlds” and from licensing its technology.