Chinese Gov't Tries To Officially Ban Gold Farming

Friday, the Chinese government attempted to address the reported $500 million gold farming industry, said to employ some 400,000 workers, in the form of a ruling on the exchange of “virtual currency” for real world cash. https://kotaku.com/study-gold-farming-employs-400-000-5040897 Officially, China’s Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Commerce said that in-game monies “will only be allowed to trade in virtual goods and services provided by its issuer, not real goods and services.” That could potentially put a damper on the burgeoning industry of accumulating in-game assets in [[link]] World of Warcraft, then selling them for yuan, dollars and pounds to people with too much money on their hands.(new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c&cid=872d12ce-453b-4870-845f-955919887e1b'; cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c" }).render("79703296e5134c75a2db6e1b64762017"); [[link]] }); The Chinese government also defined that “virtual currency” include “prepaid cards of cyber-games,” which may be able to be cashed in for digital funny money. According to a release from the two bodies, “using virtual money for gambling will be punished by public security authorities, and minors may not buy virtual [[link]] money.” The Chinese government hopes to curb gambling and illicit trade, as well as money laundering via virtual money. China Bans Gold Farming [Information Week]