An ATM card that will let players spend virtual earnings in the real world is to be launched by the creators of a popular online computer game.
Project Entropia is a futuristic 鈥渕assive multiplayer online role playing game鈥�, (MMORPG), a type of game that lets thousands of players inhabit the same virtual universe.
Players are encouraged to convert real money into the game鈥檚 currency, called Project Entropia Dollars (PED), which can then be used to buy virtual land, goods and services. The same currency can be earned within the game, for example by renting out land or working for other players, before being converted back into real-world cash. Ten PEDs are equivalent to one US dollar.
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In the past it has taken weeks to convert PEDs into real currency, because administrators have had to check that the money was earned legitimately and not by cheating the system or by hacking.
Second reality
But the Swedish company behind Project Entropia, MindArk, claims to have developed an authentication system that automatically performs these checks before transferring money into a player鈥檚 bank account. This should make it possible to launch the bank card, which MindArk hopes will further blur the line between the game鈥檚 economy and that of the real world.
鈥淲e want this game to be a full second reality,鈥� Jan Welter, MindArk鈥檚 chief executive, told The New York Times. 鈥淭he 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.鈥�
MindArk estimates that Project Entropia generated $165m of economic activity throughout 2005. In November 2005 Jon Jacobs, a film-maker from Miami, US, reportedly paid the equivalent of $100,000 to obtain a space station in the game. Jacobs plans to make money by creating a virtual resort on the station where the entertainment industry can sell music and videos to other players.
Dentists and professors
Joshua Fairfield, a law professor from the University of Indiana who researches online gaming and contributes to the MMORPG blog Terranova, says launching an ATM card for Project Entropia players makes sense. 鈥淧eople are already spending large amounts of money in these games,鈥� he told 快猫短视频. 鈥淭hese cards look to be a way to get that money back out.鈥�
Project Entropia has around 250,000 players which is far fewer than the most popular game of this type 鈥� World of Warcraft has about 6 million players. However, Project Entropia is one of the few games to permit players to convert real money into virtual currency.
Some MMORPG players disapprove of using real cash to quickly obtain virtual possessions. But Fairfield says there are good reasons to link real and virtual economies. 鈥淚t lets people without much time engage in these sorts of games,鈥� he told 快猫短视频. 鈥淚t opens them up to dentists and professors rather than just college students.鈥�