Sony Launches EQII Auction House
Pay real, presumably hard-earned money for non-real, unearned videogame items.
They say you can't get something for nothing, but Sony is putting together a site that essentially allows you to get nothing for something. Station Exchange is Sony's official auction site for players to buy and sell items, characters and in-game currency for its massively multiplayer online game EverQuest II.
Paying real money for virtual items is nothing new; MMOG players have been using auction sites such as eBay for years to sell in-game items for hard cash. Accurate numbers are hard to come by, but unofficial estimates put the value of secondary market in the $100-800 million range.
Publishers have generally stayed out of the way of this trading, allowing people to do what they want with their virtual possessions. Sony's newfound interest in getting involved is a by-product of the enormous amounts of money people are paying for virtual goods, but at the same time the company wants to give its customers a sanctioned place to do their trading.
Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games
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