Pretend Property Sells for $335,000 in Real Money

[Andy Chalk]

Pretend Property Sells for $335,000 in Real Money

A new world record for the most expensive virtual item purchase of all time has been set by an Entropia Universe [http://www.entropiauniverse.com/] player who dropped $335,000 on in-game properties.

I'm trying to imagine what I could buy with $335,000. A nice house, couple of good cars, a really fantastic summer vacation. Or I could blow it all on pretend stuff like biodomes, a virtual mall, a stadium and a club, which is exactly what an Entropia Universe player by the name of John Foma Kalun recently did.

Kalun bought the properties from fellow Entropia entrepreneur Jon Jacobs, who set an earlier mark for the most expensive virtual purchase back in 2006 when he spent $100,000 on an in-game joint called Club Neverdie [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_75/430-Club-Xanadu]. In an interesting twist, Jacobs' record-setting deal from a half-decade ago makes Kalun's purchase seem slightly less nuts: The majority of Club Neverdie is precisely what Kalun now owns.

Jacobs appears to have done quite well with his investment. According to EntropiaPlanets [http://www.entropiaplanets.com/forums/entropia-news/3739-asteroid-goes.html], Kalun bought the bulk of the Club Neverdie property but Jacobs also sold 12 other domes to other players, bringing the total sale value of the Club Neverdie asteroid to $635,000. Not too shabby for something that doesn't actually exist.

What could possess someone to spend that kind of money on imaginary stuff? Entropia Universe lets users buy and sell in-game currency at a fixed exchange rate, which gives virtual items a real-world value and lets players generate real money from the income earned on things like exclusive clubs and other properties. According to Neverdie's original auction listing [http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?188752-Asteroid-Auction-Details], the asteroid had a first-quarter 2010 tax revenue of 640,000 PED (Project Entropia Dollars), which converts to $64,000 in meatspace moolah. Nope, that's not too shabby at all.

via: Edge [http://www.next-gen.biz/news/virtual-property-sale-record-broken]


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[Holy_Handgrenade]

I wouldn't knock it it looked like he made a lot of money.

 

[Fearzone]

I've never heard of the game. I love MMO's and I've never heard of the game. Should I have?

One more thing: from the wikipedia article it looks like similar purchases in the past, numbered in hundreds of thousands of dollars, were paid for with in-game currency. Even if there is an in-game mechanism to buy/sell in-game currency between players, you can't do a cost comparison to real world money because if that kind of money went up for sale the auction price would likely bottom out. I'm sure these figures depend on a steadly trickle of in-game money being up for sale at any time, not a bolus hitting the market.

 

[gigastar]

I just cant fathom why anyone would drop $335k into a game when there are much better things he could have done with it. Not saying dont spend on games but if i had that cash id buy a better computer, some games ive always wanted and pay off some urgent bills.

Then again, considering he put that much into a game, it makes me shudder to think how high he could have gone.

 

[Sennz0r]

Holy shit.

Anyone wanna go into the virtual estate (can't exactly call it "real estate") business with me?

 

[Rayansaki]

I just cant fathom why anyone would drop $335k into a game when there are much better things he could have done with it. Not saying dont spend on games but if i had that cash id buy a better computer, some games ive always wanted and pay off some urgent bills.

Then again, considering he put that much into a game, it makes me shudder to think how high he could have gone.

Its not as much of a game as it is a business. Smart investors in Entropia get most of the money they invested in less than a year

 

[manythings]

I just cant fathom why anyone would drop $335k into a game when there are much better things he could have done with it. Not saying dont spend on games but if i had that cash id buy a better computer, some games ive always wanted and pay off some urgent bills.

Then again, considering he put that much into a game, it makes me shudder to think how high he could have gone.

Its not as much of a game as it is a business. Smart investors in Entropia get most of the money they invested in less than a year

It's not like it is 100% imaginary. It's the same as owning a strip mall, people do business there but instead of rent you get a portion of the transaction. Entropia Universe is classified as a financial institution in sweden.

 

[theSovietConnection]

.......SAY WHAAAAAATTTT???!!!!

he'd better get a huge return on that investment!

He probably will. Did you read the return the seller got on it?

Anyways, hey, if it's making them money, it isn't that nuts. Besides, if they are willing and perfectly capable of spending that kind of money in a game, who am I to stop them?

 

[L34dP1LL]

In another news, people still die from starvation. Funny how we work as a society.

 

[Andronicus]

This is the sort of thing that's all cool and hunky dory until a few minor glitches manage to worm their way in, then it'll all kind of explode. That's a lot of money to be throwing at virtual stuff. If something untoward were to happen, I can only imagine the backlash.

Still, making a profit off stuff that doesn't actually exist? This is definitely the future we're living in.

 

[Danpascooch]

Why are these records set by a game I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF!?

 

[Jkudo]

Dude spent 100k and got it all back and more, i respect that.

 

[elementsoul]

I don't think most people realize that it wasn't real money but the game's currency equivalent.

 

[thethingthatlurks]

Oh yeah? Well, I uhm...I bought a $500 bike. Yeah, look at me, Mr. Bigshot.
[small]I'm gonna show myself out...[/small]