Sony Scores With Station Exchange

[GameBanshee News]

CNet has published a news article entitled "Sony Scores With Station Exchange", in which they offer some concrete numbers on how well the company is doing with their new MMORPG auction system. I just hope this doesn't entice more companies to do it...

According to Kramer, the average Station Exchange participant spent more than $70 during the system's first 30 days, and to one observer, that number is the most impressive to come out of the experiment.

"If you think about it, if you had an industry with 5 million active people (as there are in online games), and they spent $70 a person per month, that would be a $4 billion-a-year industry," said Ed Castronova, an expert on the economies of MMOs and a professor of telecommunications at the University of Indiana.

[Faust]

Well that's not particularly surprising news. It's always good to hear that a manufacturer is finally gaining money from a pratice that undermines the integrity of the game. It will be interesting to see what overall effects Station Exchange has on SOE games.If it becomes the primary place where people buy/sell platinum and items, it could very well help to keep buying and selling on other servers to a minimum. It will be interesting to see what happens with it. Still, it's a really horrible idea.... I'm sorry to hear that its been such a rousing success.