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Virtual Currency

Report: In-Game Currency is Most Popular Virtual Item to Sell

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 28, 2009 - 11:16am.
Santa Clara, Calif. - Nearly one-third (31%) of those who purchased virtual goods over the past year also sold virtual goods, with in-game virtual currency being the most frequently sold item from player to player, according to a report from market research firm VGMarket and PlaySpan, an operator of virtual goods marketplaces.
tags: Games | Social Networking | Reports | Virtual Currency | Research | Virtual Worlds | Virtual Items | PlaySpan | VGMarket |

Sometrics Closes Second Round for Virtual Currency Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 16, 2009 - 7:41am.
Los Angeles - Sometrics, a provider of Web payment and advertising services for online game developers, announced on Friday that it has raised an undisclosed amount of second round funding, led by Steamboat Ventures.
tags: Games | Deals | VC | Advertising | Virtual Currency | Steamboat Ventures | Greycroft Partners | Sometrics | Mail Room Fund |

Report: Free-to-Play Web Games See Most Virtual Purchases

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 14, 2009 - 10:28am.
Santa Clara, Calif. - As online games increasingly look towards virtual goods transactions to generate revenue, a new survey found that free-to-play games attract the greatest number of virtual goods buyers, and that virtual currency is the most popular purchase.
tags: Games | Social Networking | Reports | Virtual Currency | Research | PlaySpan | VGMarket |

Facebook to Let Nonprofits Offer Virtual Charity Gifts

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 28, 2009 - 10:42am.
New York - Facebook plans to test its new "credits" payment platform with a number of nonprofit groups, who will be able to offer fans the ability to purchase and give charity gifts, CNET News.com reported. Facebook's Randi Zuckerberg -- sister of founder Mark Zuckerberg -- made the announcement on Friday at Mashable's Social Good Conference. Project Red, Kiva, Toms Shoes and the World Wildlife Fund will be the first to experiment with the charity gifts.

tags: Facebook | Virtual Currency |

Live Gamer Buys Virtual Economy Metrics Firm Twofish

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 24, 2009 - 8:12am.
New York - Live Gamer, the provider of a micropayments platform for online games, virtual worlds and social networks, announced on Monday that it has acquired Twofish, a provider of virtual economy data services for casual gaming and social application developers.
tags: Games | Deals | Social Networking | Acquisitions | Virtual Currency | Live Gamer | Twofish |

Adknowledge Buys Virtual Currency Firm Super Rewards

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 22, 2009 - 8:27am.
Kansas City, Mo. - Adknowledge, a provider of behavioral online advertising services, announced on Wednesday that it has acquired KITN Media, the parent company of Super Rewards, a virtual currency monetization platform for online games and social networks.
tags: Deals | Advertising | Social Networking | Acquisitions | Virtual Currency | Adknowledge | Super Rewards |

Facebook Testing New Virtual Currency Platform

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 16, 2009 - 11:43am.
San Francisco - Facebook is seeking alpha testers for its upcoming virtual currency platform, CNET News.com reported. The company has long been rumored to be developing a virtual currency that could be used as barter among its users, and by developers of Facebook applications. "Our 250 million users can now buy Facebook Credits in 15 currencies and we believe that, as Facebook Credits become more broadly available on Platform, they will meaningfully improve developer monetization and provide a great experience for users," the company wrote in a blog post.

tags: Social Networking | Facebook | Virtual Currency |

PlaySpan Brings Virtual Goods Marketplaces to Social Networks

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 16, 2009 - 11:42am.
Santa Clara, Calif. - PlaySpan, a provider of micropayment transaction services for more than 1,000 virtual worlds and online games, plans to launch marketplaces on social networks Facebook and MySpace. The marketplaces will allow users to purchase online game items, virtual goods and game currencies. The company also recently announced a partnership with PBS, to sell online gift cards for PBS Kids Play online educational content at 800 Toys 'R' Us Stores.

tags: Games | MySpace | Facebook | PBS | Virtual Currency | social networks | PlaySpan |

Analysis: Kohls Stardoll Promotion Case Study

Authored by Heather Hopkins on August 28, 2008 - 6:09am.

Virtual worlds are hugely popular online but retailers still often struggle with how to market via these worlds. As marketing budgets are being cut, retailers need to make an ever stronger case for new initiatives. The recent promotion that Kohls has run with Stardoll offers an interesting example of how to tap into this audience.

tags: Games | Deals | Marketing | Virtual Currency | Stardoll | Virtual Words | Kohls | Retails |

DMW Vlog: PlaySpan's Tony Colafrancesco on Trading Virtual Goods

Authored by Jay Baage on June 24, 2008 - 7:21am.

The market for virtual goods and currency in games such as World of Warcraft is booming and some analysts estimate that it's worth approximately $1.5 billion. I caught up with PlaySpan's Tony Colafrancesco in between panels at our recent LA Games Conference and asked him some questions about the current problems users run into when trying to trade virtual goods or currency, including gold miners and virtual gangsters, and how Playspan is working to bring some order to the chaos. Playspan claims to be the first publisher-sponsored in-game commerce network for microtransactions with a combined user base of over 10 million gamers.
tags: Games | Virtual Currency | MMORG | World of Warcraft | Virtual Worlds | LA Games Conference | PlaySpan | Tony Colafrancesco |

Facebook Virtual Currency Acebucks Raises $1.5 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 24, 2007 - 8:59am.

New York - Acebucks, a developer of virtual currency used within the Facebook online social network, has raised $1.5 million in new financing, AllFacebook reported.

tags: Deals | VC | Social Networking | Facebook | Virtual Currency | Acebucks | Buddy Media |

Gamer Files Class Action Against "World of Warcraft" Gold Farmer

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 7, 2007 - 10:56am.

Irvine, Calif. - A class action suit has been filed by a veteran player of Blizzard Entertainment's "World of Warcraft" (WoW) multiplayer game against a company called IGE, a "gold farmer" that recruits players to accrue virtual gold to sell to WoW players for real-world money, The Escapist reported.

tags: Games | Lawsuits | Virtual Currency | Blizzard | WoW | MMOG | Antonion Hernandez |

N.Y. Times: Online Game "Entropia Universe" Launches Real-World ATM Cards

Authored by dmw on May 2, 2006 - 10:12am.
New York - The New York Times on Tuesday reported on a new feature in the online game "Entropia Universe" that will let players withdraw cash from real-world ATM machines, which will draw on virtual currency stored in their online game accounts. Launched in 2003 by Sweden-based developer MindArk, the game counts 250,000 players who generated an estimated $165 million in total economic activity within the game last year. "We want this game to be a full second reality," MindArk CEO Jan Welter told The Times. "We want you to be able to have fun, make friends, make a business, enjoy music and art and do it in our game. The ATM card is a big step toward bringing people into our world because they can have comfort that they can access their virtual funds immediately."
tags: Games | Launches | Payments | Commerce | Online Games | Virtual Currency | MindArk | Entropia |