Real-Time Price Fluctuations in Game Economies

First published June 6, 2010

I think we'll start to see more real-time pricing -- prices of stuff changing throughout the day based on prices of stuff changing in financial markets. I think we'll start to see this trend emerge first in game economies, as they will be more flow-oriented, more about adjusting economic reality based on the happenings of other ecosystems, rather than viewing the economy as an isolated ecosystem. Real-time pricing in game economies is also a part of the "game disrupts the real" mega trend I think the Internet will make major steps in bringing us over the next ten years. While I think foursquare has many problems, specifically what I called "the backwards platform" problem in a recent blog post, it is the clearest example of "game disrupting the real." Perhaps we'll see real-time pricing emerge in foursquare.