First Planet Company, a subsidiary of the MindArk Group that develops and markets the Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game Planet Calypso, which is based on the Entropia Platform and part of the Entropia Universe (still with me?), claims that the world record for most expensive virtual object ever to be sold has been smashed into thousands of virtual pieces.
First Planet Company about a month ago announced the public auction of the Crystal Palace Space Station, according to the release ‘an extremely popular hunting destination that is in orbit around Planet Calypso’. The lucky winner of the auction, Erik Novak (aka “Buzz Erik Lightyear”), ended up paying $330,000.00 USD for the virtual property. → Read More
This story is not nearly as interesting as I was led to believe. Some guy bought something in the online game Entropia Universe. He bought it with in-game currency—PED3.3 million, to be exact. It just so happens that that amount, PED3.3 million, can be converted at will to real life currency. At current conversion rates that equals approximately US$330,000. So if you want to say that the guy bought an in-game item for US$330,000, well, be my guest. → Read More
Second Life competitor Entropia Universe has signed an agreement to use the game engine CryENGINE 2. According to Entropia Universe, the CryENGINE 2 platform will deliver the “closest-to-reality looking massively multiplayer online game ever seen.” The move towards realistic 3D rendering in virtual worlds continues to gain pace. Second Life acquired Windward Mark Technology in May, delivering realistic wind and clouds to their platform. Entropia Universe has been on a role lately, having passed 500,000 users and expanding into China. The new version of Entropia Universe is expected to be available by mid-2008. Sample pictures below. Previous TechCrunch coverage here. → Read More
Virtual world Entropia, which combines chatting with friends and blowing up aliens, announced their expansion into China through a deal with Beijing’s Cyber Recreation Development Corp (CRD) over a year in the making. The CRD is supported by Beijing’s Municipal government and intended to promote and develop investment in “cyber recreation” in China. The company says Second Life was also in the running for the deal. The deal is quite ambitious. Entropia currently has over 500,000 registered users, but the new Chinese partnership will permit up to 7 million concurrent users with an overall aim to attract an unheard of 150 million world wide. The company also expects their virtual economy’s bottom line to grow, eventually adding another 1 billion real dollars annually from the partnership. Entropia has already been able to sell a virtual banking license for $400,000. David Liu, CEO of CRD, envisions an Entropia utopia. He expects the partnership to bring 10,000 work-at-home, pollution-free job opportunities to China. Entropia also plans to expand their virtual real estate from the deal by enabling media companies to add their own planets to the universe. They’re currently in negotiations with film, music, and gaming companies for their own planet. Competitor Second Life has made several similar corporate branding deals in their virtual world. Entropia still faces competition from Second Life in China and their own home grown competition from HiPiHi and a TBA world from Shanda Corporation. Second Life’s top entrepreneur Anshe Chung has even been running operations out of China since last January. However, adult themes and continued investigations into illegal activities within the virtual world (child abuse, stalking, gambling) don’t bode well for getting the seal of approval of a government that blocks Wikipedia. → Read More
Depending on who you listen to, virtual worlds are the new black. Second Life needs no introduction and yesterday rumors surfaced that Sony was in talks to acquire Club Penguin for $500+ million. To date there are two leading online spaces. World of Warcraft has been an unrivaled success, bringing Dungeon and Dragons style fantasy role playing to an audience in excess of 8 million. At the opposing end is Second Life with its embrace of capitalism and intellectual property rights. What happened if you combined both? Enter Entropia Universe. Set in a Sci-Fi future players assume the roles of colonists who must develop the untamed planet of Calypso. Game play is open across a number of different fields. Players who prefer a World of Warcraft style experience can undertake quests and join in groups to hunt and fight monsters. Mining is an option for those who don’t like swinging a sword. Moving towards a more Second Life experience, players are able to own and run shops, manufacture goods, own land and build on that land, as well as being able to trade, buy, sell and create goods and services. The addition that makes Entropia Universe a direct competitor to Second Life though is money. Like Second Life, the in-world currency in Entropia Universe can be converted to US dollars. Unlike the Linden dollar that continues to decline in value, the Entropia Universe PED can be traded at a fixed exchange rate of 10 PED to $1 USD. Players are able to buy PED’s to use in-world or can transfer PED’s made in-world, out. But there’s more to Entropia Universe than just the ability to transfer cash in and out. A MasterCard branded ATM Cash Card is available to players which allow direct withdrawal of funds earned in-world. Banking is also taken seriously, unlike the unregulated wild west of Second Life with it’s various in-world ponzi schemes. Entropia Universe recently sold 5 banking licenses for the amazing sum of $404,000 USD. It all sounds great on paper, but how does it actually play? Signing up is free, though personal details are not optional. Whilst you could probably enter false information, Entropia Universe does want to know who you are. If Entropia Universe was to be judged alone on its installation procedures, there would be a lot less than the over 500,000 registered users. It’s awful. The Windows only client is → Read More
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