A recent report says that there is a significant number of people earning a living in developing countries, 400,000 in China alone, that are making a living earning "in game" treasure and selling what they've accumulated to other players. "I initially became aware of gold farming through my own games-playing but assumed it was just a cottage industry," said Professor Richard Heeks from the University of Manchester who wrote the report. "In a way that is still true. It's just that instead of a few dozen cottages, there turn out to be tens of thousands." he said. With actual numbers difficult to come by Professor Heeks' work suggests that in 2008 it employs 400,000 people who earn an average of $145 per month making the global market worth about $500m. BBC story here.
