Neverdie Sells Virtual Egg For $69,696 In Entropia Universe
Jon "Neverdie" Jacobs says he set a new world record for "the most profit made on a single looted treasure in a video game" after selling a virtual egg for $69,696 Entropia Universe/Planet Calypso. He originally purchased the egg in 2006 from Romanian gamer "Tzest0s" for $10,000.
Entropia Universe features a real cash economy in which users can purchase (Project Entropia Dollars), in-game currency, and buy clothes and accessories for their avatar, equipment for killing creatures and crafting items, and virtual real estate. They can also withdraw their PED as real world cash -- the game's exchange rate is $.10 for 1 PED.
Tzest0s discovered the unique Atrox Egg after killing an in-game creature. According to the Entropia Universe Directory, the egg's description reads, "A rare heavy egg with a thick shell. It is slowly vibrating, like it is in waiting..." After purchasing the item, Neverdie transported it to his virtual nightclub, Club Neverdie, where he kept it under armed guard but made it available for public viewings.
After buying the egg in 2006, Neverdie commented, "The absurdity of paying $10,000 USD for a virtual egg is not lost on me, but in fact I'm confident it will prove to be a great investment. Club Neverdie is already the #1 privately owned entertainment venue in virtual reality, whatever hatches out of this thing is sure to prove a big draw to the Club."
Neverdie also made headlines in 2005 when he purchased a virtual space resort in Entropia Universe for $100,000, which was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most expensive virtual world object then. He says the property is now valued at over $1 million based on profits from the virtual nightclub, mining/hunting rights, and property sales.
Late last year, another Entropia Universe player broke that record after buying a virtual space station for $330,000. The Atrox Egg's buyer, David “Deathifier” Storey, also owns an expensive space in the virtual world, Treasure Island, which he acquired for $26,500 in 2004. According to Neverdie, Deathifier considers his purchase off the egg a "sound investment."
"People thought I was crazy when I bought the egg for $10,000 in 2006," says Neverdie. "Well, now they really have something to talk about over dinner... However, even though it's a mystery egg, I think that if indeed a monster hatches from it, it will most likely be something truly spectacular that will attract gamers from all over the world to hunt it and it could produce a lot of revenue for its new owner."
He continues, "A new monster is a major event in an online community. A typical MMO game might build a multimillion dollar expansion around new creatures and storylines, in a virtual world that is free to play. The storyline evolves without quite the same marketing hoopla, but the virtual Economy can see a huge surge during events, so the egg is truly valuable."
