Whoever said "you won't get rich playing video games," never played Entropia Universe - an online computer game where players adventure, build, buy and sell everything from real estate and services to weapons and armor for real dollars.
In Entropia Universe, players create characters who co-inhabit the futuristic planet of Calypso, along with hundreds of thousands of other players.
The game uses what's called a "real cash economy." Players can exchange their own real money for pretend money their character can use in the game. Entropia uses a fixed exchange rate where $1 = 10 PEDs, (Project Entropia Dollars, the game's currency).
But the game offers players a unique opportunity - they can take money out of the game using a regular ATM card provided by the game makers at the same $1:10 PED exchange rate. For example, a player with 1,000 PEDs could use his or her Entropia Universe ATM card to take out $100.
"Some players lose and some players win," said Mike Everest, a 17-year-old Colorado high school student who earned roughly $35,000 playing the game over the last three years. "Succeeding in the game is a combination of getting lucky and playing smart."
Mike is one of the winners. But he's certainly not the only Entropia entrepreneur to make some serious money playing the game. Last year alone, the game's 500,000 players took over $160 million out of the game.
In Dec. 2004, the game set a world record when 22-year-old David Storey of Australia spent $26,500 for a virtual "Treasure Island." A new record was set late last year when another player purchased a "Space Resort" for $100,000. He was able to break even within eight months by charging "tourists" a fee to visit the resort.
With monies ranging in the tens-of-thousands increasingly changing hands in Entropia, it likely won't be long before the tax man comes knocking. But who will pay and how much? Is this gambling, work or, perhaps, sales?
From Xfire: "Remember when you'd buy a game and... that was it? You got the full experience by purchasing the full product one time. "
Damn, Train Simulator is costing the big bucks. That game is kinda fun but not if you purchase all the DLC.
"All the DLC - Train Simulator 2020, $10,145"
No wonder we're witnessing an increasing number of ports from PC to consoles, you can't nickel and dime PC owners with all their mods over there, lol
"Legatus Pack - Star Citizen $27,000"
Ouch!
Planet Calypso - Entropia Universe, $6,000,000
WTF...?!
Living, breathing, multi-world Entropia Universe continues to bridge the gap between virtual and real with its newly launched virtual stock exchange. Earlier this month, Crystal Palace Space Station, the first company to be listed on the market, saw all of its shares claimed in less than 48 hours, marking the first time in the game’s 16-year history that shares in a privately-held estate were offered to the entire playerbase of Entropia Universe.
Entropia Universe is the largest Real Cash Economy Massively Multiplayer Online Game in the world, offering players the ability to participate in a unique virtual world where they have no monthly costs.
to a few PC based games, but it could change if any of the console based services were to allow you to win redeemable "points".
It would be nice if games like these made their way on to the consoles.