RSS
Kotaku
Sony Online Entertainment launched the Station Exchange back in 2005 as an officially sanctioned player auction site meant to profit from combat the ever-growing gold and character black-market in EQ2. No one was sure how popular the site would be, seeing as only certain Everquest II servers would be Exchange-enabled. Well nearly two years later SOE has published a white paper detailing the first year of transactions, which reports a whopping $1.8 million in transactions over the period. The paper includes all sorts of statistics, from highest priced items (dark elf characters) to average platinum prices ($7.35 per piece.)
Said John Smedly, SOE president:
"The Station Exchange White Paper results demonstrate beyond a doubt that there is a significant demand for a secure, sanctioned online marketplace where players can enhance their gaming experience by spending real dollars."
Unfortunately they also demonstrate to the IRS exactly how much tax money they are missing out on from in-game item sales...figures they didn't really have access to previously. I sure hope those Station Exchange sellers are keeping records as well as SOE is.
EverQuest auction site turns over $1.8m in first year [GamesIndustry.biz]
