"Now, people are used to paying for virtual items," she adds. "Virtual life has changed substantially." Myskowski also credits games like World of WarCraft and sites like Facebook with growing awareness and use of microtransactions.

The other game on display at E for All that uses a cash economy: MindArk's Entropia Universe. The online MMORPG game launched four years ago (originally as Project Entropia), and counts nearly 800,000 registered users; only about 40 percent of those users are in the U.S. Entropia is free to play, just as Nexon's games are. But here, you'll want to add bucks into the economy, in order to gain skills, possessions, and objects from other players in the game.

A spokesperson for the Swedish-based company said that over $400 million in U.S. funds have changed hands in this virtual world. The exchange rate is 10 PED equals $1; however, objects are not valued as they would be in the outside world. For example, a coat could cost $1700 in the game; one player sold a rare gun in an in-game auction for $17,000.

The company says it expects to be the first MMO to integrate the CryEngine 2, which will enable more photorealistic and immersive game play. The CryEngine update is due in the first quarter of 2009. New planets built using the Entropia Universe platform are also expected next year.

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