Name: Why Spend Money in Video Games? - Glad You Asked S1
Uploaded: 2020-03-02T05:56:19.000Z
Duration: 14 min 46 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Alex: I've been playing video games for about 25 years.

One of my first memories was begging my parents

for a quarter at the arcade just so I could get a little bit further

- ( machine gun firing ) - ...you could be playing   to get paid.

Whether that's from streaming  or e-sports.

Emcee: ( shouting ) He just made history!

Alex: But there's another  economy at work,

where players can buy  in-game items for real cash.

In 2012, it was sold for roughly 10,000 real American dollars,

making it one of the most expensive video game items ever sold.

"Why would you spend money  in a video game?"

Games have taken up years of my life. Literally.

I've spent more than a year on  the games "Counter-Strike" and  "World of Warcraft,"

and as you can see,  I was a pretty serious gamer.

Over the last 20 years, developers have made it possible

I sold my first-ever Quest  account on eBay for about  a hundred bucks.

And years later, I paid my rent  by playing "World of Warcraft"

...these are a range of items and collectibles

that can be bought, sold, traded, all depending on

- the game that you're playing. - These are things like...

- skins and weapons   and...yeah. - Yeah. Totally.

Sometimes they can make you more powerful, but

It's called "Tidy," for about 500 V-Bucks.

And those V-Bucks can be purchased for 5 real dollars in the game.

- I haven't actually seen   it yet. - ( laughs )

it's a visual accessory that changes the way this gun looks.

And this particular skin sold for $61,000.

It's just a commemorative, special version of a skin

There are many ways  to buy virtual items.

Free-to-play games like  "Fortnite" allow you to buy

items directly from the game  using an in-game store.

- ( coin rings ) - But other games use  online marketplaces,

In this case, players  buy and sell items  among themselves,

And it largely exists  beyond the control

They're unregulated and  mostly against the rules.

But players still use them  to buy and sell items.

Back in 2012, only some game makers allowed you to buy, sell, and trade items

And the total sum of virtual items in the market

the total value of these goods could be as high as $50 billion.

that is more than the global box office of the same year.

Essentially, things are worth what anybody will pay for them.

So, if I have a fictional castle and you want it,

and you think it's worth $5, then it's worth $5.

So an in-game economy is the same as a real-world economy.

You've got a lot of people, you've got a lot of goods, and you've got currency.

Alex: Games are designed to give you a better experience the more time you spend in 'em.

In some games, like  "World of Warcraft,"  there are daily quests

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Why Spend Money in Video Games? - Glad You Asked S1

literally

essentially

eventually

experience