At least $345 million was invested in virtual worlds-related companies during the first half of 2008, according to figures from Virtual Worlds Management.

VWM found that venture capital and media firms invested more than $161 million in 16 virtual worlds-related companies during the second quarter of 2008, not including two companies that were acquired for unknown amounts.

The figure represents a slight drop on first quarter investments, which totaled $184 million dollars in 23 virtual worlds-related companies.

The largest second quarter investments were secured by videogame developers. Back in April, Crackdown and APB developer Realtime Worlds confirmed that it had raised $50 million in Series B funding led by Maverick Capital, while Lord of the Rings Online developer Turbine announced last month that it had secured $40 million in financing led by Time Warner and GGV Capital.