Virtual money turns into real money

November 30th, 2006 by Kenric

This article about Ailin Graef has brought into reality that video games and its virtual money can mean real world money. She created a character in an online game named Anshe Chung. Her character has amassed an estimated $1,000,000 real dollars in an online game called Second Life.

What’s really interesting is how she did it. Just like in the real world, the big money in the virtual world came from real estate. Ms. Chung began purchasing, subdividing, and developing small parcels of virtual land. Her Second Life empire now includes virtual real estate equivalent to 36 square kilometers. Collectively, her virtual assets are worth more than $1 million.

Gamers have been making money this way for years. It’s funny how parents always equate things to money and that if you’re just sitting around playing a video game you’re wasting time. But if it begins to make money, then they will encourage it. Sometimes, they just don’t have the forethought of the way the world constantly changes. I’m sure Tony Hawk’s parents yelled at him for skateboarding all day when he was little.

Gamers play fictional characters, or avatars in the massive online video games in which they compete and interact with other avatars controlled by real players. In every game, there is a virtual currency which players use to buy stuff that they need while playing the game.

This virtual currency was transferred into the real world when some players wanted some virtual currency but were too lazy to play online to make it. So they began to offer to buy the virtual currency with real dollars.

In World of Warcraft, players go around and gather gold. It takes time to do that, so why not go to Ebay and just bid on this gold? Better yet, the virtual world doesn’t sleep, so when you’re asleep your character is doing nothing. It’s just wasting time. So why not hire a 14-year old kid from India to play your character while you are asleep and at work. Yes, there are companies that offer this service and people use them!

In the virtual world, there are things like clothes, weapons, real estate, etc… that all cost virtual money. Like in the real world, these things go up in virtual money when more people want them. Consequently, they become worth more real dollars. People playing Second Life spend more than $650,000 real dollars a day! Why work online to make $5 online dollars to buy that cool shirt for your character when you can spend $1 real dollar to have it now!

I’m sure there are 12 year old kids who have online characters worth thousands of dollars. They either don’t know it or their parents made them quit playing.

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