Realtime Worlds, developer of APB and the original Crackdown, has announced Project: MyWorld, a PC platform that combines social media with a virtual representation of the real world.

More of a social platform than a game, Project: MyWorld uses data from GIS (geographic information system) mapping services to create a 3D render of entire countries. Users can then alter the features of cities and towns using in-game tools to make buildings and other structures more accurately mimic the real world.

Project: MyWorld uses a Wiki-like system to ensure that users do not alter the virtual world in ways that stray too far from reality. Realtime Worlds released a walkthrough video, demonstrating tools that allow users to alter the dimensions, colors, textures, and external features of buildings.

The project integrates several forms of social media, including Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Google, and Loopt, though there are few details about how these services will work within the platform.

Users can also play several types of casual games within the virtual locations, including fishing, driving, farming, and flying.

“We see Project: MyWorld as the next generation of social game platforms…we see it has the intersection between virtual worlds, online gaming and social media,” explains Sean Dugan, design director of Project: MyWorld.

Realtime Worlds hopes to open the Project: MyWorld platform to users early next year.