Iria

Riding The Virtual Stock Markets

It can be difficult to get your head around at times, but massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs) generate billions of dollars in revenue for items that do not actually exist, and provide no tangible service in the real world. The fact that people are willing to invest so much in buying items, virtual currency and even whole characters requires a mental leap of faith in itself. What's really amazing, though, is that they do it successfully in a thriving marketplace in what is essentially one of the most unstable economic platforms in the world. We wrote about this phenomenon earlier this summer in our article on the virtual games economy.

These virtual markets have exploded in the last couple of years, fuelled by a high-octane mix of expanding always-on Internet access, and open marketplaces such as eBay where the items can be bought and sold. Indeed, some virtual economies are now purported to be worth more than many 3rd world countries in terms of GDP.
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Read More / Source: Tom's Hardware Guide