Sony to Auction Virtual Gaming Goods

While online auctions for actual physical items are more commonly known to most people thanks to eBay, an underground auction community is emerging that trades virtual goods -- or computerized possessions -- for use in various multiplayer online games.

Now Sony is joining the virtual trend with Station Exchange, which was announced on Wednesday. The auction site will initially serve the Everquest II community.

"The unsanctioned secondary market for online games is rapidly growing and more and more of our players are taking part in it," said John Smedley, Presodent of Sony Online Entertainment.

Sony claims that these underground auction sites that are not sanctioned by the company are risky since there is no way of ensuring the goods are transferred to the player. When a player uses Station Exchange to auction off an item, it is taken out of the game world and into the auction servers. Upon completion and payment, the player receives the item in his account.

Although it may seem crazy to the outsider, this secondary market is estimated to be worth some $100 to $800 million a year, with Sony's Everquest titles comprising 20 percent of that number.

Smedley says the new service, a first in the industry, will set the standard for online game sales. "SOE is in a unique position to help guide the industry, just as we have since we first opened the world of EverQuest to the public six years ago."