Developer’s Corner, more than just a game

Today’s post is: we’ll get a lawyer when we have a dispute… why bother beforehand!

Back in the Game, Great article about when your hobby becomes your Job

Working out the legal issues is important because virtual worlds are becoming more mainstream. Sony Online Entertainment said that its Free Realms virtual world drew more than a million users in its first 17 days. World of Warcraft has 12 million users. Linden Lab’s Second Life had 732,526 unique users in the first quarter, up 25 percent from a year ago. Nexon’s MapleStory has 92 million members worldwide, including 6 million members in North America. Virtual worlds raised $594 million in venture money in 2008, and there are more than 200 virtual worlds for kids in the works.

Forbes has a recent authoritative ariticle on the worth of virtual worlds, saying ” the worldwide virtual “goods” economy, which some are calling Virtual Street, is estimated at about $5 billion right now”.

A Screen Digest article touches on the longterm growth of virtual worlds. The most provocative quote is “overall, the outlook for subscription-based MMOGs remains positive over the next five years. By 2013, we expect the subscription market to top $2bn in consumer spending and for it to maintain its role as a key business model for monetisation alongside micro-transactions.”

Virtual Worlds News predicts 400 million to be spent on virtual goods. A highlight of the article is “(Viximo founder) Balfour values the global market for virtual goods in 2009 at $5.5 billion”.

Clickz has some updated Virtual Worlds figures, saying “by 2010, the online game market is expected to reach $4.4 billion, up from $1.1 billion in revenues last year. That figure is based on interviews and estimates of different segments of the game industry including publishers, distribution services, casual Web-based services, and also derivative revenue like in-game advertising and commodity exchange.”

I want to conclude by pointing out some disparities in these figures, and to define some terms. These raw figures incorporate different types of income, and thus must be further broken down. A value in “virtual goods” is from those services and products sold in-game to enhance the game experience. A virtual good can be bought in a free-to-play game or a subscription-based game. We’ll look at “game models” in a different post, where we talk about the different risks in either subscription-based or free-to-play.

Jay Moffitt is a TN attorney. The statements here are not legal advice, and no attorney/client relationship is created. Jay Moffitt claims no certification in this specialty, and TN does not offer a certification in this area of law. Copyright, Jay Moffitt, 2009. Comments are welcomed and will be answered promptly and courteously.

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