Sanctioned RMT in WoW - Blizzard's new vanity pets
This just in from Blizzard: Players will soon be able to purchase a Bind on Equip companion pet for $10. In the FAQ, the company specifically states that [W]e’re ok with it if some players choose to...
View ArticleVirtual Economies: Is less information better?
In the first of his promised weekly reports, Yanis Varoufakis, Valve’s new economist-in-residence, released his first analysis of a Valve game economy on Friday. In his inaugural post, Mr. Varoufakis...
View ArticleThe effect of social networks on RMT
Back in January 2012, this paper was published in the journal Information Systems Frontiers. The authors explore several hypotheses of real-life demand for virtual goods, one of which I thought was...
View ArticleDeath and Taxes
Two things you can't escape, even in a fantasy world. But more on death some other time. For now, let's talk markets and taxes. Guild Wars 2 is a month out of the gate and presents players with a...
View ArticleA technical note for game analysts
Twice now I have reviewed and subsequently rejected papers that attempt to analyze the price of games in terms of real currency and the price of virtual items in terms of virtual currency. I've had to...
View ArticlePay-to-trade
With increasing frequency, developers are restricting what can be traded inside of new games. This is especially true given the rate at which social and mobile games are being released, but it is a...
View ArticleA loook at the subscription revenue model
It's time to address some of the criticisms of Zenimax Online's decision to go with a subscription-based revenue model.
View ArticleInterview: Dmitri Williams, CEO of NinjaMetrics
Amongst video game scholars, perhaps no one has been more prolific and had more impact than Dr. Dmitri Williams. Williams, a professor of communications at USC and CEO of game analytics firm...
View ArticleFitting mobile games into players' lives
Scott Rigby and Troy Skinner of Immersyve opened this year's Mobile and Tablet Summit today with a presentation entitled "Rituals of mobile gaming: Understanding the true building blocks of consumer...
View ArticleB-school profs taking a hard look at games
The video game industry has begun to attract significant attention from researchers in business schools and economics departments across the globe. New faculty in these fields grew up with video games,...
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