Second Life rival seeks €1bn UK listing

An internet start-up backed by Sir Richard Branson, that promises to transform the global computer games industry, is set to list in London with a €1bn (£670m) valuation.

Game Domain International, a start-up based in Germany, has created an online virtual world, similar to Second Life, that also allows subscribers to download the latest computer games.

Technology in the company's 3D computer-generated reality, called A World of My Own (AWOMO), allows PC users to buy, download and play the latest game titles without the need to visit a shop. GDI claims that games can be downloaded to a PC using a broadband connection at a much faster rate than has previously been possible.

Virgin Games, a subsidiary of Virgin Group, has a 20 per cent stake in GDI, which is currently drawing up a prospectus prior to seeking a dual listing in London and Frankfurt.

Roger Walkden, the former European head of games giant Activision, has been appointed chief executive of GDI.

Simon Burridge, the chief executive of Virgin Games and a non-executive director of GDI, said: "We believe that AWOMO will do for PC games what iTunes has done for music."

It is believed that GDI already has agreements to distribute 100 games from 18 publishers on its AWOMO platform.

The full commercial launch of AWOMO is scheduled for the end of the year with a flotation of GDI pencilled in for the first quarter of 2008. The market capitalisation placed on the company by its investors will raise eyebrows in the City, despite soaring valuations for internet ventures.

Currently, nearly all computer games are purchased from retail outlets. However GDI's backers believe that consumers will prefer to buy games in digital form, in the same way that music is increasingly downloaded from online stores such as iTunes, once the technology is in place.