SOURCE: Project Entropia/MindArk

November 08, 2005 13:36 ET

Virtual Island Purchase of $26,500 Recoups Investment in First Year With Room for Ongoing Profit

As Virtual Real Estate Gains Popularity, MMORPG Project Entropia Continues to Generate Record-Breaking Figures, Including the Recent Virtual Space Resort Sale for $100,000

GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN -- (MARKET WIRE) -- November 8, 2005 -- Project Entropia, the fastest growing virtual world utilizing a real cash economy, today announces that twenty-three year old Deathifier, who purchased the virtual Treasure Island for $26,500 in late 2004, has regained investment in less than one year and will continue to draw in revenue each month. "The money made to date is only a taste of what can be achieved with my virtual island purchase," raves Deathifier. "We've really only just begun with the estate sales and land management, there is still more room for growth and revenue with the untapped resources surrounding the land." The proven success of Treasure Island led Project Entropia to develop and sell another premiere virtual property: a virtual Space Resort sold for a world record-breaking $100,000.

"The virtual real estate market established by Project Entropia is on fire due to the amount of money potentially to be made, as gamers everywhere are realizing that virtual worlds can compete with dirt and clay on an economic level," says virtual Space Resort winner, Neverdie. "The Space Resort, which I plan to name Club Neverdie, is the perfect vehicle to link reality with virtual reality by enabling the entertainment industry to reach inside and target the gamer while he's in his element. This will also in turn enhance the gamer experience by raising the quality level of content through social events and interaction with live music/video. With digital downloading representing the future of the music industry, record labels are desperately searching for new ways to promote music online, and Club Neverdie will help bridge the gap."

The Space Resort is a true monument in the MMORPG virtual gaming community as it provides instant "real cash" revenue to the new owner. The Resort boasts such facilities as a 1000-unit apartment complex, commercial spaceship dock, themed shopping mall, and a mega stadium for championship sporting events, a nightclub and more.

Much like the Resort, the virtual Treasure Island came equipped with cash-generating attractions, and now in less than one year has managed to repay Deathifier his complete investment. The island has also already become the capital of the player-owned land areas. Island owner, Deathifier, continues to rake in the money by allowing numerous members to provide raw materials supporting the island's high-quality chargeable/taxable hunting (estimated $50 a day/per hunter and miner). "Loot is also now frequently yielding in excess of $1,000, causing hundreds of gamers to flock to my hot hunting areas to make their fortune," says Deathifier. Deathifier also relies on the continuous sale of estates and other properties on the island to draw in a majority of the profits

"The sale of the Space Resort, which met a final bid in just three days time, and the dramatic success of the Treasure Island show that the awareness of investing in a virtual universe really has exploded," says Marco Behrmann, MindArk Director of Community Relations. "The participants see this extension of the virtual universe as a natural next step in an online community. This is an enormous validation that Project Entropia is leading the way in future online entertainment and business."

Project Entropia is part of the next generation of gaming known as MMORPG (massive multi-player online role playing gaming), which seem to resemble more of a virtual world and society rather than a typical online video game. This new wave of interactive entertainment allows players to interact in a world of three-dimensional virtual environments.

Unlike many other MMORPG's, Project Entropia actively supports sales of virtual products with actual cash value within its real economy system. The economy offers the user a secure and safe way to make purchases, sales and exchange real life currency into PED (Project Entropia Dollars) and back again into real money, at a fixed exchange rate to the US Dollar. PED allows members to invest in personal development and growth through the acquisition of goods, buildings, and land in the Entropia universe.

The heart of Project Entropia lies in a distant planet named Calypso, which includes two continents with large, expanding cities that offer a variety of entertainment and social interaction for its citizens. Members of Entropia can create their own persona (avatar), allowing them to choose a suitable life and virtual existence. Characters enter the evolving world full of unexplored and uncultivated lands where they can join a community or even create a civilization of their own. Project Entropia offers a new way for individuals to pursue dreams and fantasies through an adventurous virtual experience.

About Project Entropia and MindArk

Project Entropia is a registered trademark of MindArk PE AB. MindArk supports and monitors the services and maintenance of Project Entropia. MindArk began in April of 2003 in Sweden, and has expanded to have partners throughout the world. Project Entropia was launched in 2003 and has reached over 300,000 registered accounts. MindArk offers the Project Entropia software to users free of charge with no monthly costs or associated subscription fees. For more information or to download the free Project Entropia software please visit www.project-entropia.com.