| His project will be built on a virtual asteroid in cyberspace. Jacobs said he views it as a solid investment — and that’s why he paid $100,000 in real-world money.
Jacobs, of Miami, said he plans to release the apartment units slowly into the marketplace, probably over the course of 18 to 24 months, and he also plans to gradually phase in the commercial space. “I expect the prices will go up quite dramatically, so I don’t want to flood the market off the bat and lose all my potential profit to resellers,” he said in a recent e-mail message.
“Let’s just think of the space station as a very large virtual shopping mall built on an asteroid. I anticipate grossing well in excess of $100,000 within the first two months, although I’m not rushing to take my money out.” The space station, dubbed “Club Neverdie,” is a part of “Project Entropia,” a game that allows players from around world to interact in a three-dimensional fantasy universe powered by the Internet. It is part of a growing genre of games known as massively multiplayer online role-playing games, or MMORGs. These virtual worlds are taking real estate to a new extreme, as millions of computer users throughout the globe now populate a range of digital realms that have unique currencies and thriving economies.
Jacobs, known in the “Project Entropia” game as the character “Neverdie,” said he believes the market for virtual land and housing is virtually untapped.
“More and more people with significant amounts of money are looking to find ways to get involved in virtual reality and the property market is a business model they can relate to,” he said. “Virtual reality is in its absolute infancy. There will be hundreds of thousands of different businesses that will eventually be well-suited to a virtual environment. And most of those businesses will need to be built on virtual land.”
There are definitely some parallels between developing real estate in the real world and in the virtual world, Jacobs said, adding that he has consulted with Craig Robins, the owner of a Miami-based real estate development company. “I like the idea of innovative real estate development (and) cutting-edge architecture combined with a cultural relevance.” In the “Project Entropia” universe, real estate prices have grown about 500 percent since last summer, Jacobs said. He plans to sell some real estate in the early stages of developing the space station, while holding back a “fair portion” for rental. Housing prices in “Project Entropia” should rise as game developers add new functionality to housing, Jacobs also said.
Jacobs said his real-world real estate dealings financed his purchase of the virtual space station. In 2002, Jacobs bought a home in Miami’s “Design District” for $195,000. He purchased the home with a low down payment and a high interest rate, and refinanced in September 2005 based on an appraised value of $450,000. “So I have made a wonderful profit,” he said. “I used cash from my (refinance) to purchase my virtual real estate. I think making money from my house has taught me to be bold when it comes to acquiring real estate.”
The Entropia online community claims to have over 600 000 registered participants from over 220 countries, with the average number of players online at any one time previously stated to be around 600 (as of August 2005).
The community has produced several real world marriages as well as creating a multitude of cross-border friendships said Marco Behrmann, director of community relations at MindArk, the Swedish company that developed the game. See Wikipedia for more information.
Alice’s note: No, I haven’t invested! My land is Earth’s terra firma. |
Return to Alice's Home Page
Send Me a Newcomer's Package
Office
(480) 767-2700
Toll-Free
(877) Come2AZ
