Online game gets real-world banking license

The publisher of the online science-fiction game “Entropia Universe,” set on the planet Calypso, received a banking license from the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority last week and plans to open a real bank within a year, albeit one without physical, walk-in branches.

Players of “Entropia” already exchange real money for a virtual currency that is used for their expenses on Calypso. And virtual money they make in the game, through hunting, mining, trading or other activities, can be cashed out into real money. The virtual currency, Project Entropia Dollars, has a fixed 10-to-1 exchange rate to the U.S. dollar.

Sweden-based publisher MindArk PE AB gains the protection of the Swedish government’s deposit insurance for these accounts, up to about $60,000 for each customer.

MindArk states on their site:

Build your Virtual World and Generate Revenues Directly

Mindark offers its license-free Entropia Universe Planet Development Kit to organizations wishing to create their own virtual worlds. Reduce time-to-market of your virtual world project, and utilize in-built revenue generating functionality by building on the Entropia Universe Platform.

MindArk development director David Simmons said the company also plans to offer real bank services such as  interest-bearing accounts, direct deposit of paychecks, bill payment and lending in the near future.

However, the company does not know what type of lending it will be engaging in, but Simmons said the company is not ready to make risky investments which will foil other banks.

The economic activity in “Entropia Universe” was worth about $420 million last year, about the same as the Pacific island nation of Kiribati, population 110,000. The game has 850,000 player accounts, though not all of them represent active players.

[Source]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *