A computer game played by thousands of enthusiasts over the Internet has spawned an economy with a per-capita income comparable to that of a small country, according to new research by a US economist.
The online fantasy game EverQuest lets players create and control characters 鈥� or avatars 鈥� within a fantasy world called Norrath. Characters gain skills and possessions that they can then trade with other players using the game鈥檚 currency of 鈥減latinum pieces鈥�. However, many EverQuest players have found this process too complicated and have instead opted to sell their assets for real money though trading web sites such as eBay.
Edward Castronova, of the economics department at California State University at Fullerton, studied thousands of EverQuest transactions performed through eBay to determine the real-world economic value generated by the inhabitants of Norrath.
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Castronova discovered that Norrath鈥檚 gross national product per-capita is $2,266. If Norrath was a country, it would be the 77th most wealthy in the world, just behind Russia.
Valuable currency
Castronova also found that Norrath鈥檚 virtual currency is more valuable in the US than the Yen. And his research shows that EverQuest players earn an average of $3.42 for every hour spent playing the game.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a robust, free-market economy filled with wealthy, hardworking people,鈥� Castronova told the online news service CNet. 鈥淲hat you see with EverQuest is that economies happen by themselves. If you get a bunch of people together and they have things they can produce and opportunities to exchange them, you鈥檝e got the makings of an economic system.鈥�
However, he notes that not all the assets are converted into real-world cash.
Future of e-commerce
Castronova says that EverQuest鈥檚 economy can be studied like any normal economy, even though Norrath is a fantasy world. This is because of the social importance attached to the game by its players.
Castronova believes that virtual worlds like Norrath could eventually become more closely linked with the real world. 鈥淰irtual worlds may be the future of e-commerce, and perhaps the internet itself,鈥� he says. 鈥淥rdinary people, who seem to have become bored and frustrated by ordinary web commerce, engage energetically and enthusiastically in avatar-based online markets.鈥�
Launched in 1999 by Sony, EverQuest is one of the largest role playing games on the internet. According to Sony, the game has 400,000 users in total, with up to 60,000 inhabiting the game at any one time.
