Entropia Universe player spends $2.5 million on virtual real estate
But canny investor could make a 27 per cent return.
An investor has spent a staggering $2.5 million on a plot of virtual real estate in real money sci-fi MMO Entropia Universe.
Developer MindArk revealed that the record-breaking transaction was for deeds to territory in the game's Planet Calypso region.
Land owners in the game share in the gross revenue generated on their planet from user-to-user transactions, which apparently totals around $400 million a year on Calypso. The developer claims the current annual return on investment is in the region of 27 per cent.
Land deeds in the game are usually sold off one-by-one for $100, however larger purchases are fairly common. An investor spent $330,000 on a virtual space station in 2009, while another player sold a resort for $635,000 a year later.
The game, which is a direct evolution of Project Entropia, first launched back in 2003.