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MapleStory announces over 92 million users worldwide, 4 year anniversary
We often marvel at the sheer numbers of subscribers and users some MMOs and virtual worlds are able to reach. You can look at a title like World of Warcraft, with over 11 million subscribers and just...
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A closer look at revenues in free-to-play MMOs
The free-to-play business model in the MMO industry is one that lets users play a game for free in hopes that a percentage of that userbase will opt to embrace microtransactions, allowing F2P game...
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New legislation in China outlaws gold farming
Gold farmers. We know you hate them... We know. And we've mentioned the associated gold spam as being the bane of many MMO players' existence a number of times in the past. But is the situation ever...
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China bans gold farming
Gold farmers! They're everywhere, right? We get spammed by them, we run into them farming Dire Maul, we put them on ignore. Lazy people with too much disposable income buy gold from them in a show of...
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Sweden extending taxation into the virtual
Sweden is taking aim at online tax evasion and the estimated five billion Swedish krona (SEK) in annual undeclared income by the country's citizens. (This equates to roughly USD 645 million.) While...
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Survey says: Nearly half of MMO gamers bought virtual stuff
One of the interesting things we at Massively find about statistics and surveys is how people react to surveys and research results about games, virtual environments and MMOGs. Unexpected results...
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Second Life content creators warn about scam site
Numerous Second Life content creators are warning their clientele that the Web-site virtualget.net (which has been apparently been operating for a couple of months now) is a credit-card harvesting...
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TUAW exclusive: Makers of Aurora Feint unveil new game, codenamed "VSL"
Aurora Feint was one of the iPhone's first big games, way back in the early days of the App Store. Since then, the company behind that first hit has added on a few different games in the same...
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Man buys virtual space station for 330k real dollars
Welcome back to Joystiq's Flip This House, finding you the best deals in gaming real estate! This week, we're looking at a doozy of a fixer-upper: it's a beautiful space station called the Crystal...
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Virtual sales boom, will top $3 billion in five years
Gamasutra reports on a new study from research firm DFC Intelligence that concludes that sales of virtual goods are on the rise. The study surveyed 5,000 gamers from Europe and North America for a...
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Game Center sparks light reactions from competing iPhone social network devs
Yesterday, Apple announced Game Center, a social gaming service for iPhone. Pretty much everyone with an iPhone has reason to be delighted with this development, except for companies like OpenFeint...
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Study finds that 75% of online gamers purchase virtual goods
Are you one of the steadfast, stalwart gamers who absolutely refuses to shell out money on cash shops, microtransactions and virtual services apart from subscriptions? If so, you're in the minority --...
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Study claims that women spend double what men do on virtual goods
Worlds in Motion is reporting on a new survey that takes a look at purchases of virtual goods and money. PlaySpan and VGMarket surveyed just over 2,200 people between the ages of 13 and 64 regarding...
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Free for All: Charmed, Zentia, I'm sure
Charm is one of those words that, as a kid, I never really understood. I always pictured some southern gentleman, lemonade in hand, wooing powdered belles from his porch on a hot summer's day: that's...
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Zynga shutting down Street Racing game, offering credit for in-game purchases
Casual giant Zynga is shutting down its Street Racing game on August 2, immediately rendering void all the in-game items players bought with real money. Zynga offered no explanation in the...
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15 Minutes of Fame: Cory Doctorow on gold farming
From Hollywood celebrities to the guy next door, millions of people have made World of Warcraft a part of their lives. How do you play WoW? We're giving each approach its own 15 Minutes of Fame. A...
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Free for All: EVE drama due to bolster waning TV soap schedule
Much was said recently about the latest EVE Online "drama." If you've talked and written about MMORPGs as long as I have, you'd be very rich if you were paid a nickel every time you heard the word....
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Study suggests one in three gamers has purchased virtual goods
Let's say you're playing an MMO with two of your mates. They could be online friends, real-world friends, or some combination of both. According to a new study conducted by PlaySpan and VGMarket, one...
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CCP releases EVE's emergency CSM meeting minutes
There's no drama like internet spaceship drama, and the boohoos stemming from last summer's EVE Online Incarna expansion -- and the associated monoclegate controversy -- continue to make waves. CCP...
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GDC Online 2011: CCP on virtual goods in EVE Online
Remember Monoclegate? CCP sure does, and at GDC this week, the company reflected on some lessons learned from its introduction of virtual goods to EVE Online. Associate Producer Ben Cockerill from CCP...
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The Soapbox: If you want to sell special items, just do it already
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you...
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South Korea banning trade of in-game items
South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will enact a ban on commercial trading of in-game items starting next month, the Korea Times reports. Like the online gaming curfew, this move is...
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Free for All: Justifying the subscriptions I maintain
Subscriptions are a funny thing. For as long as I can remember, they've represented a level of quality to many gamers. To those players, only those funny Eastern MMOs didn't have a sub. Granted, I...
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DotA 2 pink war dog courier sells for $38,000
Pricey items aren't just for MMOs -- MOBAs are getting in on the action as well. DotA 2 secured its place in the ranks of titles where in-game items have sold for exorbitant real-life sums when an...
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