Saw this posted in my daily news feed this morning. Figured some people here would be interested in it. It's a long read (I didn't read it all), but I noticed some interesting stats. Such as: ~25% of MMO gamers buy from the secondary market. Also, in the report they say that the secondary market across all games is estimated to be worth $3 billion USD annually (half being from Chinese gamers), but they base this off their claim that the average NA/EU/JP buyer spends over $300 a year on goods, and the average Chinese buyer spends just slightly under $100 yearly, grossly over estimated numbers. While there are people that spend those amounts, I see the average being closer to $100 on the US/EU/JP side (not $300) and significantly lower than that in China. Page Link: Converting the Virtual Economy into Development Potential: Knowledge Map of the Virtual Economy | infoDev.org PDF Link: http://www.infodev.org/en/Document.1076.pdf WSJ Coverage: Selling Virtual Game Winnings: a $3 Billion Industry - Digits - WSJ The Washington Post Coverage: World Bank says online gaming industry is a boon to Asia economy - The Washington Post Thoughts? Also posted this on mmoshift.com
