launched a new product called 3D Homepages. Each citizen account was entitled to a free 30-day trial of a virtual 10,000 square-meter 3D world, using their choice of layout from a selection of pre-designed styles. After the trial, the user had the option of upgrading to a larger size and user limit. These 3D Homepages were hosted for the user, unlike traditional worlds where the user would have to get their world hosted by another company or user, or themselves. In 2002, the company increased the price of their yearly citizenships from US$19.95 to US$69.95. On June 16, 2008, Active Worlds, Inc. released the first major update to the browser in two years, version 4.2. It included web page rendering on objects and customizable avatars. On June 24, 2009, Active Worlds, Inc. released an open beta of version 5.0 to the public. On June 7, 2012, version 6.0 was released. The system's registration fee was removed in 2013. In March 2016, the platform made headlines when YouTuber and Twitch streamer Vinny of the streaming group Vinesauce explored and came across a user by the name of "Hitomi Fujiko", who he assumed to be a non-player character, but who clearly showed signs of life as the stream continued. The stream was viewed by roughly 6,000 people, and caused the platform's login servers to crash due to an overload of registrations. As a result, no viewers were able to log in during the stream. The incident, described as creepypasta-like, led to speculation that the character was part of an ARG, and restored interest in the virtual world. It was later revealed that Fujiko was a viewer of Vinny's streams and a former frequenter of Active Worlds who had decided to revisit the game during Vinny's own playthrough of it as a means of entertaining herself; she later participated in a question & answer session revolving around the incident on the Vinesauce subreddit under the pseudonym "Pocketomi". See also Virtual world Metaverse Croquet project Renderware—rendering engine used by Active Worlds CyberTown Second Life Snow Crash—novel by Neal Stephenson which inspired Active Worlds The Thirteenth Floor—movie which has a simulated environment game within Active Worlds. WorldsAway—Active Worlds precursor Worlds.com OSMP References Sources Hansen, Kenneth. "The Design of Public Space in 3D Virtual Worlds on the Internet." Virtual Space: Spatiality in Virtual Inhabited 3d Worlds. Lars Qvortrup, ed. London: Springer-Verlag, 2002. Noll, Rick. "Price Plan