Virtual Economy

On the Media | May 5, 2011
This week, World of Warcraft, an online role-playing game, reached more than one million players in North America, a continental first. More players means more participants in the virtual economy, where real dollars buy fake goods. In fact, you can even invest in these fantasy realms. In December, an Australian gamer paid $26,500 for a virtual island in the game Project Entropia. What’s going on here? Indiana University associate professor Edward Castronova explains it to Brooke.

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