Gotta Give 'Em Credit

Back in May, a number of articles (like this one on gamedev.net) announced the creation of plans for an ATM cash card that can be used in real world ATM machines to extract real dollars in exchange for a player's virtual currency held in the Entropia MMOG.

One characteristic that sets Entropia apart from other MMOG economies is that they have set a fixed exchange rate between their currency and the US dollar. 10 PED (Project Entropia Dollars) are worth 1 USD.

Project Entropia also has the distinction of having players spend large amounts of USD - the current record is a single purchase of $100,000 - on land investments which the players are able to profit from by developing, selling and taxing for services on those lands.

Another interesting note about the game is how the game "charges" players for playing. Besides occasionally creating new land areas and selling the "unreal" estate, essential items in the game wear out through use and have to be repaired, repurchased or upgraded over time, which is done through purchases in dollars.

Kudos to Swedish developer MindArk for creating this innovative environment with the infrastructure and intent to provide an extension of the real world in virtual space.