October 2026

A Goodbye--and a Hello

After weeks of speculation, the official news came out on Friday.

ENGAGE XR's last day is Saturday, October 31st.

Like many others who enjoyed multiple events in this innovative platform, I'm truly sorry things ended this way.

However, one closure doesn't stop creativity.

Academy of Immersive Arts and Sciences President Ben Erwin has a wonderful "PSA" post on LinkedIn, in which he offers guidance for backing up spatial recordings. I'd encourage you to check it out, sooner rather than later.

In his post, Ben mentions that The Polys Red Carpet Theatre and The Foremothers Cafe will be available in Altspace, as will events planned for the upcoming IMMERSIVE X Festival, November 10-12, and the Ready Player Golf VR Charity Golf Fundraiser, November 13-14.

Meanwhile, talented novelist Helen Erwin says, "The Foremothers Cafe isn't going anywhere!" Her virtual cafe, is a Swedish-American women's history museum and cultural center. The first immersive space created by an author from a setting in one of her books, The Foremothers Cafe hosts regular discussion series and a fantastic "honoring our foremothers" event, every November 30th, to which I'm looking forward, again this year.

And, groundbreaking educational nonprofit Africa VR Campus and Center, will be hosting one final "farewell" meeting for Tales From Africa in ENGAGE on Thursday, noon Pacific time, After that, they will certainly be moving forward as they offer educational opportunities to African youth through VR. They will be doing a number of presentations during IMMERSIVE X, and I'm looking forward to seeing which new platforms they choose for their pioneering work.

Also, I'd never bet against XR and Spatial Computing Strategist Chris Madsen, previously Senior Sales Engineer at ENGAGE. Chris is scheduled to speak at IMMERSIVE X, and look for him to do some exciting things in virtual worlds in the future.

Which brings us to the "hello" part.

​Altspace is back!

They officially re-launched on Friday, and their new edition has all the earmarks of the fun and interactive gathering space we remember. I visited their campfire this weekend, and while it was a little quiet when I went in, I'll be excited to see what's coming.

(Especially a new world by Cause + Christi, "Donna Summer's Sunrise Party", which is listed on my computer as "uploading soon"!)

Goodbye, ENGAGE--you were beyond fantastic! And hello, Altspace New Version--I suspect you will be, too.

See you next week!