This pretty much leaves me speechless.
The current population of virtual worlds, also known as "massively multiplayer online role-playing games" (mmorpgs) such as World of Warcraft, EverQuest, and Second Life, is estimated at more than 20 million. The population of Mexico City is 19 million.
Entropia Universe offers its players a debit card that can be used at real-world atms to withdraw up to $3,000 a month from their supply of virtual cash.
An estimated 500,000 Chinese gamers are "gold farmers" who perform menial tasks inside online worlds to create virtual goods to sell to players in the West.
A typical gold farmer earns $65 to $100 a month.
No pun intended, but some people inhabit a completely different world.
But a potentially profitable different world.
On the other hand, they are participating in the entertainment industry of the wealthy in other countries. The computer game industry has just found a way to spread the wealth from the people willing to pay for the commodity of entertainment.
Profitable indeed - enough, at least, to provide a primary source of income to half a million Chinese. But not quite lucrative. Do you remember this blog?
Although perhaps the money-making schemes have become more sophisticated since then.