Posted March 19, 2012 19:16:21
A new breed of entrepreneur is emerging that makes a living playing video games and investing in the virtual economy.
A recent World Bank report found that the virtual economy is worth more than $3 billion globally and says it could be a valuable tool to provide work in developing countries.
David Storey is one entrepreneur who has invested in virtual real estate.
In 2004, he bought a virtual island in the online video game Entropia Universe for $26,500 with the help of some investors.
The island, Treasure Island, only exists on Planet Calypso in the online game.
Every time a player visits, shoots a fowl and then takes its belongings, Mr Storey gets a cut, which can ultimately be converted to US dollars.
"It generates a nice return investment numerically and it opens up a lot of different opportunities to learn about different aspects of business operation and to really give you a flexible lifestyle," Mr Storey said.
Now, along with a growing portfolio of other investments in the game, it is his bread and butter job.
Mr Storey keeps his island in immaculate condition and says he regularly invests in it to make it more appealing to visitors.
"It's quite possible something will change in a different part of the universe which makes my section of it look pretty uninteresting all of a sudden," he said.
Mr Storey says when he first went to investors to tell them his idea of buying virtual real estate, they were initially sceptical.
"They had a very interesting look on their face. It took a few sessions but they understood the economic side of things," he said.
Mr Storey says people can actually get a job playing video games.
"Most of the world say 'when are you getting a job?' And I'm like, 'I've got a job. This is my job'," he said.
Gold farmers
But if Mr Storey is a savvy investor, there is another side to the virtual economy.
So-called gold farmers, most of them in China, play games for hours on end to generate in-game currency, which is then sold for real money to wealthier players.
Filmmaker and PhD student, Ge Jin, made a documentary about gold farms in China.
He says there could be as many as "tens of thousands of people" doing some form of gold farming.
"Many of them would work 12 hours a day," he said.
"Usually they have at most one day off in the whole month, not that different from other blue collar jobs."
Mr Jin says this new digital working class appears to be learning, and gold farming has changed dramatically over the past few years.
"It actually reminds me of how electronics parts are produced in China. Usually they start with a small workshop and quickly expand into very efficient large-scale production sites," he said
Chinese gold farms have started selling directly to gamers, cutting out some of the US and European companies that once served as middle men.
In-game currencies also now can be traded between gaming platforms and even other virtual currencies used in social networking.
Developing world
The maturing of gold farming jobs is why the World Bank is hopeful that other areas of the virtual economy could generate opportunities.
World Bank virtual economy report author Dr Vili Lehdonvirta is involved in a program to bring so-called micro-work farms to mobile platforms, which will help some of the world's most disadvantage people take part in the virtual economy.
Already, online retailers outsource simple categorisation tasks to people in developing countries.
A phenomenon of manipulating social media has also emerged in the virtual economy.
"The industry has emerged that manufacturer's likes and followers and other social media works by recruiting users in low income countries and paying them to like a specific brand," Dr Lehdonvirta said.
Chris Leach owns a US-based company that sells Twitter followers and Facebook likes.
"There is what's called the herd mentality when you see people gaining followers; they also want to be part of the pack as well," he said.
"And number two, it gives them more interaction in the social media space because it creates a little bit of buzz."
Topics: internet-culture, information-and-communication, social-media, science-and-technology, computers-and-technology, business-economics-and-finance, economic-trends, australia, china
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