By now almost everyone will be familiar with the concept of online gaming and virtual worlds, whether massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), or interactive ‘alternative worlds’.
The demographics and statistics associated with online gaming worlds are infinitely flexible: in July 2007 Blizzard Entertainment claimed that it had more than nine million subscribers to its online fantasy game World of Warcraft. Last year, the real money market of virtual goods trading in secondary markets in China alone was estimated by the Chinese Government to be $901m (£430m). Small wonder then that lawyers are getting involved in this area on a professional as well as a recreational basis.
