Get rich IRL with gaming currencies

What if the vast digital economies within popular games like Fortnite, Roblox, GTA 5 could be converted into real-world monetary value for players?

Not only that, but what if doing so could create a new era of close brand partnerships and unobtrusive monetization at the same time?

This may sound like a pipedream, but it is totally possible.

Let’s take a deeper look!

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TLDR

• In-game currencies and their economies are huge, with a minimum conversion value of $3b USD (give or take!)
• Game currencies can be converted into loyalty points, gift cards, retailer credit, and many other things
• There are many legal and business hurdles to converting game currencies
• Despite the challenges, there is one simple solution for making all this awesomeness happen (no, really!)

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Just How Big Is The Gaming Currency Economy?

$3b USD

That is the approximate value of the currencies found in 10 popular games like Roblox, Fortnite, World of Warcraft, etc.

Now, before anyone pushes up their glasses and says, “Well actually…” about these numbers, let’s remember this is fuzzy, but helpful math we can use to illustrate a simple point:

In-game currencies are massive! Economies this size represent endless opportunities if even a fraction is converted into real-world monetary value

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Before we explore creative ideas for using these currencies, let’s look at some things that may get in the way:

• A lot of this currency is held by minors
• Currencies are locked behind strict Terms of Service agreements that vary from game-to-game
• The potential for fraud and “currency laundering” is high
• Reliable consumer protection laws do not exist for converting game currencies in a fair and consistent manner

These issues may sound daunting, but they are totally solvable.

For now, let’s just focus on the fun stuff instead: turning those billions of dollars into real-world value!

The B.F. Guide To Converting Game Currencies Into $$$

As we rock out playing our favorite games, we don’t care about what brands or advertisers want. We also aren’t thinking about how our in-game cash monies can pay our rent or replace the moldy bread in our fridges.

Instead, we are focusing on fragging xxSuperSaiyan9000xx before they teabag us again. Or we are happily eager to cuddle into our favorite cozy gaming world in order to escape everything.

Thanks to the wonders of gaming, in these moments of dopamine-addled bliss, we are generally only looking to fulfill our most basic escape and power fantasies.

How self-serving of us!

But what if we could somehow align the self-serving, ego-centric nature of gaming with, wait for it, the self-serving, ego-centric nature of advertisers?

The answer for this explosion of harmony is being able to exchange in-game currencies in sweet dap ups between players, game publishers, and brands.

Now let’s juice those short attention spans with some fun currency conversion ideas before you go back to Reddit, LinkedIn, or whatever..

And please hold all your questions about feasibility, “what if”, and whatever else until the end. We will address those concerns in their own section.

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Idea #1 – Loyalty Program Points

I know, this sounds too obvious, but you need to hold space for this one.

Loyalty programs are the foundation of almost every brand’s engagement and retention strategy. And they are a language both consumers and brands already understand. Not to mention, all the business processes, legal safeguards, and underlying technologies already exist.

This means all the super cool marketers, finance dorks, and techno-dweebs can get game currency exchange systems up and running quickly since they are not building them from scratch.

Loyalty program points have the:

• Lowest legal risk
• Shortest-time to implementation
• Smallest amount of behavioral changes for consumers and brands

Not bad at all!

Idea #2 – Gift Cards

Yeah, I know, another absolute bombshell of an insight. Don’t say I didn’t tell you to buckle up!

Really though, this is one of the best ways to exchange in-game currencies for real-world value.

Now, we can’t just be handing out lawsuit-baiting prepaid Visa cards to every 13 year-old who makes a fun map on Fortnite, but we CAN give them brand-specific gift cards. You know, those things almost everyone buys their kids for Christmas, birthdays, and for when they leave their shopping to the very last minute.

“Shoot, Gamestop closed two hours ago. I guess my kids are getting P.F. Chang’s gift cards again this year. It’s tradition!”

What’s extra-super-special-cool about this idea is that companies have already proven their risk tolerance with gift cards. Most are totally fine providing these even if the recipients aren’t old enough to drive yet.

Idea #3 – Currency Exchanges

Yes, this idea is one of those, “Just so crazy it might work!” notions that could literally set the industry on fire.

The idea is not to convert game currencies into real-world duckets, but to convert them into value inside other games through a currency exchange.

This would allow users to earn currencies in their favorite games and then buy items like skins, accessories, game time, and even currencies from other games.

The possibilities are limitless.

Since this idea could potentially introduce some chaos (okay, a LOT of chaos), it may only be suitable for game publishers to create an exchange within their own ecosystem of games. This way Billy-Ray Accountant can keep an eye on what all those sticky-fingered kids and offshore scammers are doing.

Given the amount of protectionism game publishers will exercise, I could see this being pretty tough to push through.

Idea #4 – Crypto Currencies

Ah yes, the sweet thrill of speculative fiat assets. How could anyone resist trying to get their Cheetos fingers on these?

I mean, just imagine if you could turn your 2am gaming sessions into crypto riches?

Now, this would be different than the current “Pay-to-Earn” garbage games where you earn some poor excuse of a coin that no one cares about. I am talking about real crypto currencies being up for grabs, or fractional pieces of them depending on what coins are being offered.

(Yeah, sorry, your $200 in Runescape gold is not going to get you an entire Bitcoin!)

“Umm, Actually…”

Alright, naysayers and doubters, let’s hear it. I want all the excuses for why none of these great ideas can happen.

No matter what you say, I have the answer. So do your un-imaginative worst!

“No game publisher is going to allow this!”
It will be challenging, yes. The idea of introducing such high potential for fraud, in-game economic instability, 3rd-party currency selling, and potential legal challenges with providing minors with monetary compensation is not for the faint of heart.

“There is no way to regulate in-game currency conversion in a fair way!”
True. No laws currently exist that span the complexities of international currency exchange in a scenario like this. Even just trying to figure out how to convert monetary value in different areas of the world would be difficult based on currency values within different countries.

“You cannot give out monetary compensation to kids!”
Yeah, this one is complicated. It is probably the biggest potential challenge to an idea like this. There are many laws across the world that protect children’s identities, and parental consent is required for just about everything.

“How would governments track and tax payouts from game currency conversions?”
You know what? I really don’t know! That is a great question.

The Simple Solution For All Of This

Brands.

Brands and their big juicy marketing dollars.

It is really that simple.

Just like with every new idea in the marketing space, and that is what we are talking about here, brand dollars inspire everyone to suddenly figure out how to accommodate new things.

We saw this when digital ads came out. When social media hit the streets. When paid search, mobile, creator partnerships, and everything else suddenly popped up.

When brands said, “Spend my money on this!”, ad agencies, media platforms, regulators, and your Grandma Nann all jumped so they could grab a piece of those sweet-smelling ad dollars as they sprinted their way toward the shredder.

“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”
John Wanamaker – Old Timey Merchant Savant

In the case of game currency conversion, if brands want to offer loyalty points, gift cards, pay people with crypto, trade up for in-game items, or whatever the carrot may be, if brands put enough dollars on the table everyone will figure it out.

This means it is largely on the ad agencies of the world to introduce ideas like this so brands can say “no” for the next few quarters before finally trying it anyway.

But what kind of pressures could force brands to look at using in-game currencies as a way to drive customer engagement?

I am glad you asked!

Industry standard conversion rates are shrinking, media budgets are getting tighter, marketing leaders are demanding more outcomes for their money, AI is changing literally everything, customers have shorter attention spans and mostly ignore advertising altogether, kids are eating Tide pods for clout–this is truly an era where no opportunity for engagement should be left off the table.

Wrapping It Up

So, you are welcome. Through creativity and bombast, I just solved some major industry challenges up in here.

With these gems of wisdom, I implore brands, agencies, media platforms, and game publishers everywhere to consider how to help gamers pay for even the smallest things with their in-game currency holdings.

Basically: We want to stop being poor!

As always, if you want to speak about any of this, I am always up for fun discussions with likeminded people. Hit me up through the contact form below and let’s get crazy.