Project Entropia Sells In-Game Property For $100K

Swedish game developer MindArk PE AB, the creator of PC MMO Project Entropia, has announced that Project Entropia player Jon 'Neverdie' Jacobs has purchased a virtual space resort in the game for a price of 1,000,000 Project Entropia Dollars, or $100,000 in real-life U.S. currency. This sum trumps a previous purchase in December 2004, when an Australian player apparently paid $26,500 in real-world money for an 'extensively rendered virtual treasure island' in the game. However, as in the previous case, the winning bidder in Project Entropia will generate significant real-world revenue from his ownership of the space resort, since he will be awarded 1000 apartment deeds to rent out to in-game players, 100 mall shopping boths and market stalls, all hunting and mining taxation rights, and operating control and revenues from event areas. The luxury in-game object also includes "10 hunting biodomes with individual land management facilities which will enable the creative owner to create Rare, Unique and Exotic creatures", as well as an owner-operated PA system for streaming music and video to biodomes and screens/billboards, meaning that theoretically, the owner of the area could start running in-game advertisements that he would personally benefit from. An official statement from the company explained: "The public auction offering the Space Resort started Friday 21st of October at a staring price of 1 PED, and with a buyout price of 1,000,000 PED. The response to the news of the Space Resort was immediate – just during the weekend eight parties approached MindArk expressing serious interest in purchasing it. Just three days after the launch, the buyout price was met by Jon 'Neverdie' Jacobs, before the competition. We congratulate him on his purchase and look forward to a grand opening around Christmas time!"