IGE Buys Yantis

[edit: I don't have time to give this what it deserves right now but the news needs to be out there.]

Increasing firm size makes sense, since this is a field where returns to scale are positive. The question is, how much bigger can IGE get? I doubt that item sales are likely to be monopolized, but there are clearly some gains to be made by streamlining operations and collecting similar functions (item farming, auction management, delivery, web updates) across many games.

Read more here.

Comments

[DivineShadow]

1.

Now I get the Project Entropia (PE) guys. PE is the next step, where SOE buys out IGE.

I still think the PE model is bad for fun (read: my fun). Now the line between PE and EQ is blurrier; well, maybe it was always that way and now it's in-your-face.

[magicback]

2.

There are people with the vision to be the NYSE and NASDAQ of virtual trade.

Many will treat virtual goods as a hobby and an investment. Trading of virtual sports cards are moving in this direction.

Here's an investment profile of a particular eTopps football card: http://www.etopps.com/Product/CardDetails.asp?ID=201

Topps have work out quite well the fun and profit equation. I think the key is that they implicitly link a virtual goods with physical goods (like trading stocks where physical stock certificates can also be delivered).

Frank

[Brian 'Psychochild' Green]

3.

Hopefully someone will see this in the "recent posts" area. This is the most appropriate place to post it.

A discussion of how eBayers perpetuate their businesses in EverQuest

This goes into some information about duping and exploiting. Jessica (IIRC) has said before that eBayers tend to be the ones looking for exploits to increase their revenue. But, even if you ignore this, there's a juicy bit about economics at work in EQ that I haven't seen discussed before.

It's essentially a positive feedback loop. The eBayers have money (they sell it after all), so they buy items for sale in the bazaar that are "too cheap". They then sell the items at a higher price, which requires players to spend more platinum, which they buy from said eBayers. So, the eBayers have the platinum, they sell items at higher rates for more platinum (usually moeny they just sold and can sell again), wash, rinse, repeat.

It quickly makes the economy a lot less fun as the rich get richer and the rest have to pay more in order to get the nifty items they want in-game.

Some interesting information for those that read this site.

My thoughts,