Virtual economies also exist in life simulation games which may have taken the most radical steps toward linking a virtual economy with the real world.
The largest virtual economies are found in MMORPGs. Virtual economies are observed in MUDs and massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). However, some people do interact with virtual economies for 'real' economic benefit.ĭespite primarily dealing with in-game currencies, this term also encompasses the selling of virtual currency for real money, in what is sometimes called 'open centralised marketplaces'. People enter these virtual economies for recreation and entertainment rather than necessity, which means that virtual economies lack the aspects of a real economy that are not considered to be 'fun' (for instance, avatars in a virtual economy often do not need to buy food in order to survive, and usually do not have any biological needs at all). A virtual economy (or sometimes synthetic economy) is an emergent economy existing in a virtual world, usually exchanging virtual goods in the context of an online game, particularly in massively multiplayer online games (MMOs).
