It is now possible to fulfill every boy’s dream, as well as many adult men’s, of earning a living playing video games. HunterCoin’s recent release and VoidSpace in development, which rewards players with digital currency, rather than virtual princesses and gold stars, point to a future when one can be recognized for his or her ranking in scoreboards in dollars, sterling and euros. Visit our website and learn more about metaedge.

Here’s the tale of the millionaire virtual real estate agent…

As they mature in functionality and financial infrastructure, digital currency has been steadily growing in credibility. While Bitcoin was the first and most widely known crypto-currency in existence in 2009, there are many forms of virtual currency that have been in use in video games since at least 15 years. Ultima Online in 1997 was the first game to integrate a vast virtual economy. By completing quests, defeating monsters, finding treasure, and collecting gold coins, players could accumulate these to purchase armour and weapons as well as real estate. It was an early form of a virtual currency. Although it only existed within the game, the Ultima currency was subject to inflation because of its game mechanics. This meant that there would always be monsters to kill.

EverQuest, which was first released in 1999, allowed virtual currency gamers to take virtual currency gaming to the next level. Players could trade virtual goods within EverQuest, though this was forbidden by its designer. The real story of Chinese gamers (or ‘gold farms’) was fascinatingly told in Neal Stephenson’s 2011 novel Reamde. They were paid full-time to play EverQuest, and other similar games. Their goal was to gain experience points to increase their character’s power and make them more desirable. They would be offered for sale on eBay to Western gamers that were unable or unwilling to spend hours leveling up their characters. According to the exchange rate EverQuest’s currency was calculated as a result of real world trade Edward Castronova from Indiana University, Professor of Telecommunications and expert in virtual currencies, EverQuest was the 777th wealthiest country, roughly between Russia and Bulgaria. The nation’s per capita GDP was higher than that of India or the People’s Republic of China.