Have you been paying attention to the stock market recently? Economists are starting to look like meteorologists, playing best guesses and issuing storm warnings for investors so that when all their money disappears at least someone can say “I told you so.” Governments having to plead to industry to make drastic changes, and bailing out banks with billions of dollars. The system of commerce really does make the world go around, and the higher ups of the world seem to recognize that fact by dolling out cash to make it all work itself out. When businesses start to falter it changes the world we live in. Such is the vice and virtue of capitalism.

If this is getting a bit too philosophical or political and you’re waiting for the way this relates to video games, here is a bit of perspective. The Gross Domestic Product is basically how much money a country produces through its goods and services in a given year. According to the International Monetary Fund’s list of 179 countries’ GDP, World of Warcraft ranks somewhere between 162 and 150 based on estimates of how much revenue the game generates per year. Yes, that means that the GDP of Azeroth is ranked at least above 17 countries, and as many as 29, giving the virtual landscape a higher value than Grenada or Liberia. With a population that ranks in the top 80 most populated countries in the world, it is hard to ignore how powerful the game really is.

Given the huge profit that the game generates, there exists an internal economy that is driven by the huge populace and the investment they have made into the game. The concept of gold farming, selling items and leveling users has its own internet-based commerce system that is world-wide and generally accepted as a practice by many of the community. While Blizzard, the creators of WoW have been opposed to automated systems, the idea that work can be done within the game by a person and then distributed using non-virtual cash is something that has driven the game use even higher just for the sake of gathering profits. Assuming Blizzard is the government, the businesses and citizens that exist within the world create a consumer and producer base to form a pseudo-economic structure that can be taken as dependent. Perhaps not on the same level as the real world governments are, as prefaced in this article, but there could just as easily be a strong correlation to the growth of WoW along side the generated need and growth of the internal economy.

Mythic Entertainment has recently brought out Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning into the MMORPG fray, and it has received a lot of positive press so far. Mark Jacobs, co-founder of Mythic, did have some choice words for gold selling in this newly released game on his blog. Taking a lot of joy in banning and thwarting the attempts of gold farmers and sellers in the game and referring those partaking in that activity as “lowlifes”, it seems the stance for Mythic has been firmly planted early that this tactic is not tolerated. It is also something that is taken seriously in other games, and the idea of having a strong system in place to thwart any in-game economies seems to be a priority and a pet-peeve for many developers. But given the success the WoW has had in spite of the internal businesses that thrive on WoW as a platform rather than a video game, should developers be turning on this idea so quickly?

Given the fact it is a design decision, most developers want to be in control of how their game is played. When creating open, interactive worlds, though, it is hard to dictate exactly what every user will do with what you give them. In games we’ve looked at like Entropia Universe, the in-game economy is the driving force that holds the game together. Of course, it’s still a video game allowing interaction with fantasy environments, leveling and grinding, character customization and various ways to enjoy yourself through combat or trades. That aspect all comes part in parcel with the economics, though, having to buy your weapons, trade your items, buy or gain skills and take either the pay-to-play method of building your experience, or the arduous one-red-paperclip method in order to avoid paying out. It seems to be working, with the virtual experience gathering more and more members and press, but it will be interesting to see which developer takes a more balanced approach to both of these methods. Where Entropia is basically a virtual economic platform, WAR and WoW are games and designed to be played that way.

How long will it be now before a major organization within a video game universe finds itself in financial trouble, and is backed by the developers in order to create a community sustainability for the future of the game? If we are indeed building our virtual worlds more and more openly to the players, the basic ideologies of business and growth will always find a place to settle, and that capitalist ideal will just continue to grow stronger and stronger.