Linden Lab has confirmed that it is working a spiritual sequel to its hugely popular Second Life virtual world, stating that, "The next generation virtual world will go far beyond what is possible with Second Life." Second Life originally launched back in 2003, and is one of the biggest online virtual worlds ever created. Users in the world can interact and socialize with each other through avatars. The team behind Second Life has given a statement to New World Notes about its next major project, saying that it is aiming to build the next generation of virtual world. "This is a significant focus for Linden Lab, and we are actively hiring to help with this ambitious effort," reads the statement. "We believe that there is a massive opportunity ahead to carry on the spirit of Second Life while leveraging the significant technological advancements that have occurred since its creation, as well as our unparalleled experience as the provider of the most successful user-created virtual world ever." Notably, the company says that in a bid to make sure it does not constrain development, it is focusing more heavily on building the new features of its next-gen platform over building backwards compatibility for Second Life into this new world. And Linden Lab says it will continue to build Second Life alongside this new world, saying that "Second Life has many years ahead of it."