Looks like you’re going to have to earn your phat lootz the hard way. Sparter, an online marketplace for virtual game currencies that launched last year, has effectively shut down. The company has issued a notification stating that no further purchases can be carried out, though transactions currently in progress will be fulfilled.
The site, which is backed by Bessemer Venture Partners, allowed gamers to sell gold to other players for real-world money in games including World of Warcraft, Eve, and Everquest. This kind of trading has been commonplace on the internet since the emergence of major massively multiplayer games, but it has always been controversial – eBay banned it in early 2007. Such transactions are against the Terms of Service for nearly every online game, and many players believe that they are dishonest and can ruin a game’s economy.
So what led to the shutdown? The site almost certainly folded to pressure from game developers, though it may have also had a hard time gaining traction in a space with countless vendors of virtual gold. The site does still leave some wiggle room for its rebirth in the future, explaining:
“Going forward, we believe the best course for our business is to focus solely on providing marketplaces with the full support of game developers and publishers. ”
For now we’ll be adding Sparter to the Deadpool. Gamers still looking to take the easy way out can head over to competitors like IGE.
It’s like those people trying to sell virtual greeting cards or flowers.
GET A CLUE. Even little kids are smarter than that.
The WoW gold was the only thing that even came close to banking real money on this.
Next genius intarweb business idea: “We’ll pay you to use our virtual currency!”
I See A Great Need
Funny.
Virtual currency has no central bank backing it, as such, it’s worthless even if there was a way of reproducing it in a physical matter. The United States currency is diluted as heck, it doesn’t have enough gold reserves to back-up the currency value nor debts but that is another issue for another time.
Jon
http://woodmarvels.com – Create Unique Memories
@Chris, jibjab is doing a great job charging for virtual greeting cards, so I wouldn’t call the whole space out. Just sayin’!
I actually used Sparter in the past and it worked pretty well for WoW. The product was solid and the team is (was?) actually comprised of proven (as in had previous companies go public) entrepreneurs with a passion for the space. It just didn’t work out and I applaud the folks for knowing when to say when.
NO !!
I am Spartercus !!
Everyone can say how virtual currency has no backing but it’s a billion dollar a year industry and it started long before “wow” came about. This type of selling started pre-UO days but UO really started it off with a 2+ mill a year take in just off of “ebay”.
Sites like Sparter would of made a market for themselves but the problem is they were to late jumping on the bandwagon. With the market now reaching such large numbers and farming markets shooting up all over 3rd world countries it is far harder to compete in virtual currency game.
Such transactions are against the Terms of Service for nearly every online game, and many players believe that they are dishonest and can ruin a game’s economy.
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