The announcment that the forthcoming Diablo III will have an auction house system catches my eye because we’re talking an auction house here that can result in cashing out real money from the game. The currency based system will be optional and if players prefer they will be able to trade with inworld gold instead, but it will be seen as an interesting development in the gaming world, micro transactions and the ability to cash out have been a strong driving force behind Second Life, seeing this system extended to a game is interesting, from the FAQ:
Can players choose to get cash from currency-based auction house sales, instead of having the proceeds deposited into their Battle.net account?
Yes, as an advanced feature, players will have the option of attaching an account with an approved third-party payment service to their Battle.net account. Once this has been completed, proceeds from the sale of items in the currency-based auction house can be deposited into their third-party payment service account. “Cashing out” would then be handled through the third-party payment service. Note that this process will be subject to applicable fees charged by Blizzard and the third-party payment service. Also, any proceeds from the sale of items in the currency-based auction house that have been deposited into the Battle.net account will not be transferrable to the third-party payment service account. Not all regions will support this advanced feature at launch. Region-specific details, as well as details regarding which third-party payment services will be supported and the fee that Blizzard will charge for the cash-out process, will all be provided at a later date.
What does this mean for Second Life? No, seriously, Ciaran, what the hell does this have to do with Second Life? Not very much to start with but the publicity this will generate will likely lead to people who don’t use Second Life realising they can cash out from Second Life, indeed Linden Lab should be making press releases right now pointing out that you can cash out from Second Life because it is a selling point.
I know there are plenty of people around who find the economy side of Second Life distasteful, I don’t, I find it healthy and invigorating to have that option to cash our or put money back into the platform and the more worlds that do it the better. This could be an emerging market with Second Life and Linden Lab having a healthy head start.
There’s currently no word from Blizzard that this will extend to World Of Warcraft, although it it proves successful I’m sure they will be tempted because Blizzard make a cut from auction house fees, it’s a new revenue model for them.
There will of course be new challenges from more virtual worlds and games moving to a system that allows people to cash out, but it will be interesting to see how this pans out. I think there’s potential here and long term I’m sure more virtual worlds will also embrace other aspects that make Second Life appealing, such as crafting your own unique designs, which is another selling point Linden Lab should be shouting about.