I Want My, I Want My IGE

Simon Carless of Gamasutra gives what, to date, is probably the most even-handed coverage of IGE, asking James Clarke, the company’s Shanghai-based COO, some pointed questions about what it’s like to be a parasite on a growing industry (oh, sorry, did I say that out loud?):

However, it’s obvious that IGE does not share that belief [that RMT is a violation of the rules and EULA of several online games they service], with COO Clarke commenting pointedly: “We very much stand behind the concept of in-game property being owned by the players”, and expressing “exceptionally high confidence” that this belief is true. Of course, U.S. and international courts have not ruled absolutely definitively on the matter, and indeed, Clarke claims that no companies have ever tried to challenge IGE legally over their behavior. But it’s clear that IGE continues to find enough suppliers to allow its business to grow, despite multiple MMOs banning users for ‘gold farming’.