Fake money, Real business
Making Money in Virtual Worlds
In 2006, Anshe Chung appeared on the cover of Business Week Magazine as the first person to reach a net worth of one million US dollars through trading in a virtual world - namely, Linden Lab's popular online game Second Life. Her initial investment? Around £6.10 (or $10) to set up a player account.
Here we take a look at the economics of 3 of the biggest MMORPGS (that's Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) that feature online currencies, their worth and where their creators stand on real-life trading of in-game money.
World of Warcraft: Overview
World of Warcraft is the most popular MMORPG the world has ever seen, with a record-breaking 12 million subscribers. The game, set in the fantasy world of Azeroth, was developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment in 2004.
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Virtual Currency
Gold (or GP) -
Exchange Rate
Approximately 150 Gold per £1
For dramatic effect, the value of real-world gold is around
£30,000 ($48,000) per 1000 grams.
World of Warcraft: Economics
Blizzard banned 105,000 players suspected of gold farming in November 2007, effectively removing 12 million Gold from the World of Warcraft economy or £80,000 ($129,000) in real money.
The value of World of Warcraft Gold has fallen over time:
The highest real-money sale related to World of Warcraft occurred in 2008 when a New Yorker bought a high-level account for £3,085 ($5000).
Second Life: Overview
Second Life, developed by Linden Labs, launched in 2003 and has long been touted as a viable way of making real money through virtual trade. While this is debatable, a number of people have accumulated sizable fortunes and large companies have invested heavily in the virtual reality game.
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Virtual Currency
Linden Dollars (L$) -
Exchange Rate
Approximately L$429 per £1
Second Life: Economics
Unlike World of Warcraft, Second Life's economy is more measurable as trade is actively encouraged (with Linden Dollars having a specific real-life value).
Second Life weathered the recession well; it hit an all-time peak in Q1 of 2010, totalling £98.7m in user transactions for the quarter:
The Gross Domestic Product of the Second Life economy stands at around £370m ($600m), which is higher than the GDPs of 17 real-world countries.
Linden Labs has reported that around 64,000 of Second Life users made a profit in 2009, though 60% of these made less than £6.10 ($10). Only 233 made more than £3,084 ($5000), equating to a mere 0.0011% of Second Life's entire user base.
However, Linden Labs has confirmed that "several" users have become real-world millionaires through the game, with the highest amount cashed out being £1m ($1.7m).
Eve Online: Overview
EVE Online is a role-playing game spanning the depths of outer space, with as many as 60,000 players trading resources and carrying out missions over 7,500 star systems. Unlike other online multiplayers, dubious methods of raising money in the game are heartily encouraged - including stealing from other players, setting up Ponzi schemes and otherwise conning people out of their resources.
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Virtual Currency
Insterstellar Kredits (ISK) -
Exchange Rate
Approximately 50,000,000 ISK per £1
Eve Online: Economics
EVE Online operates under an open economy, driven by player-dictated supply and demand.
Exchanging items or ISK for real-world money (or vice-versa) is strictly prohibited by the game's terms of service - however, many online stores openly sell and buy ISK (a Google search for "buy EVE ISK" currently brings up nearly 700,000 hits).
While the average sale price of ISK online is around £6.1 ($10) per 300m ISK, players have calculated that a single ISK would actually be worth around £3 ($5) in a real life scenario based on commodity prices within the game.
Stealing in-game currency from other players is actively encouraged as a style of play. A player known as 'Bad Bobby' hit the gaming headlines after stealing 850bn ISK in an elaborate scam.
