The vast majority of virtual world projects launched by businesses fail within 18 months, because of a lack of clear objectives and a limited understanding of the demographics, attitudes, and expectations of virtual-world communities, market research firm Gartner said.

However, Gartner estimates that by 2012, 70% of organizations will have established their own private virtual worlds, because of lower expectations, clearer objectives, and better constraints. Gartner believes virtual world adoption will begin in role-based scenario-driven training exercises, and extend to a secure, persistent, and interactive virtual workspace that allows individuals and partners to interact and improve collaboration.