Virtual Money, Weapons And Gifts
People are paying real money for digital goods in all sorts of online applications ranging from Facebook apps to massively multiplayer online games reports GamesBeat.
The No. 1 thing they buy is virtual money. Other top items include virtual weapons and gifts for social networking friends, according to a survey.
Free-to-play games, where you can start playing for free and then buy items in the game as you need them, now account for more than half of all virtual goods transactions, according to the July survey by market researcher VGMarket and virtual goods platform company PlaySpan.
About 58 percent of gamers made purchases in free-to-play games in the past year. About 34 percent made purchases in MMO games (or virtual worlds such as Eve Online), and 23 percent made purcahse in social networking games.
It isn’t just geeks buying these things. Virtual goods and micro transactions have become a favorite business model for game companies this year, particularly as ad-based models sink in the recession and gamers shy away from buying $60 games in stores.
Photo by nezabarom/.
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