WebWorld operated on the Peregrine Systems Inc. servers as an after-hours project until Britvich left the company to join Knowledge Adventure Worlds (KAW) in the fall of that year.

In January 1997, Worlds Inc., after failing to secure needed contracts and having spent its venture investment of over 15 million dollars, laid off almost the entire staff of the company, keeping only several employees which included the author of Gamma, now known as WorldsPlayer.

JP McCormick joined the company shortly thereafter and invested funds in COF to continue the expansion of Active Worlds.

[4] 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.

The stream was viewed by roughly 6,000 people, and caused the platform's login servers to crash due to an overload of registrations.

The incident, described as creepypasta-like, led to speculation that the character was part of an ARG, and restored interest in the virtual world.