Virtual Cash Affecting Real Economy?
July 5, 2009 by Joel Tan
Filed under Asian MMO, MMORPG News
That is the question. Apparently, the government of China is asking the same thing, and the question is enough to merit a memorandum to online game developers and operators to stop accepting real or virtual payment for contests and other random selections that offer virtual currency or items.
Thanks to this new government regulation, a China-based online games operator, Giant Interactive, has decided to shelve a “prize draw” in its in-house developed massively multiplayer online role-playing game ZT Online.
Here’s an excerpt from the story on online games portal 17173:
Giant Closes ZT Draw Citing Regs
Shanghai-based online game company Giant Interactive announced on June 26 that it plans to close in-house developed MMORPG ZT Online’s “prize draw” on July 6 following the release of a regulation to strengthen oversight on virtual currency in China.
According to the regulation, operators may not accept real or virtual payment for lucky draws or other random selections offering virtual currency or items.
China’s Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Culture issued the regulation on June 26 to prevent virtual currency from impacting the real economy.
