Sony: Virtual Game Item Marketplace Does $1.87 Million in First Year

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 7, 2007 - 1:49pm.

San Diego - Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) announced on Wednesday that Station Exchange, the online auction site it launched in June 2005 to allow players of its "EverQuest II" multiplayer online game to pay real money for virtual characters and items, generated $1.87 million in player transactions during its first year.

SOE said players paid as much as $2,000 for a single character, with one seller earning over $37,000 from 351 auctions.

The company said a stable exchange rate emerged for virtual currency within the game, which for the year averaged out at $7.35 for one piece of in-game platinum.

"The results demonstrate beyond a doubt that there is a significant demand for a secure, sanctioned online marketplace where players can enhance their gaming experience by spending real dollars," said SOE president John Smedley.

"We've found that Station Exchange is providing an excellent ancillary revenue stream for both SOE and our players."

The news from SOE is notable in light of eBay's recent decision to ban all auctions for virtual items from its site, citing the murky legal status of virtual property.

Other sites, such as IGE (Internet Gaming Entertainment), offer online marketplaces for the sale of virtual goods from numerous games, including "World of Warcraft," "Guild Wars" and "City of Heroes."

Related Links:

http://tinyurl.com/245zpz

http://www.soe.sony.com

http://stationexchange.station.sony.com

http://www.ige.com

Published in DMW Daily, February 7, 2006

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Comments

Impact on Developers

Submitted by HCC (not verified) on February 11, 2007 - 5:49pm.

Black Market sales of virtual property have co-existed with MMO games since their inception and until recently the developer has always strongly combated the sale of their virtual properties. Sony Station Exchange’s acceptance and facilitation of the customers’ capitalist ventures has earned a great deal of customer patronage, revenue and has greatly cut their support costs. What does this mean for other MMO developers? Will they begin to adopt this policy and instead of punishing virtual salesmen, simply play the middle man? They should. The players of Everquest II using Station Exchange have shown that they can be trusted to use a legitimate system if it is offered. Currently the illegal sales of virtual property from games such as World of Warcraft, Ultima Online and City of Heroes are estimated to be as high as a billion dollars. This is a chunk of capital industry developers cannot afford to neglect, and it seems Sony has presented a viable means to regulate this currently illegal trade with great success.