For realz? For real indeed.
Neverdie of Entropia recently made a sale (in real dollars) of his virtual universe on an asteroid including all the parties involved. According to this board, “Neverdie sold the remaining 7 domes, plus the stadium, the mall, the club, etc. to John Foma Kalun – also known as pesok at the forums. John was to be the original buyer, but there were delays, and Neverdie shares that John was in some sort of auto accident (hope he’s doing well now), so he (ND) decided to break up the sale.” This isn’t the first time this individual made a large sale like this. He broke his previous record of $300,000.
How Entropia works:
Entropia uses a micropayment business model, in which players may buy in-game currency (PED – Project Entropia Dollars) with real money that can be redeemed back into real world funds at a fixed exchange rate.
This means that virtual items acquired within Entropia Universe have a real cash value, and a participant may, at any time, initiate a withdrawal of their accumulated PEDs back into real world currencies according to the fixed exchange rate, minus transaction fees, the minimum amount for a withdrawal is 1000 PED. As a result, revenue of the business is largely generated from activities within the virtual universe. As of 2009, the revenue model has proven to be sustainable and profitable
While we may never fully understand why people would prefer a download/digital format vs. a physical form, this is indication that there are some serious crazy mofos out there that will pay top dollars for a digital content.
via Entropia Planets also via Forbes
