Taken from Wikipedia
"The BBC reported that in 2002 work done by Edward Castronova
showed that Everquest was the 77th richest country in the world,
sandwiched between Russia and Bulgaria and its GDP per capita was
higher than that of the People's Republic of China and India. By
2004, a follow-up analysis showed that the average GDP of each of
the two million players was $2,000 (£1,087) which was approximately
the same as the GDP of Namibia."
Taken from
Technology Review
"The GNP of Second Life in September 2005 was L$906,361,808 or
U.S.$3,596,674, based on the recent L/U.S. exchange rate."
Taken from
CNN Money
"It's all virtual, of course--part of a flourishing online universe
called Second Life. And if it sounds absurd, consider this: While
Anshe won't talk about how much money she's making ("I'm careful
not to stir animosity," she says), Philip Rosedale, the founder and
CEO of Linden Lab, which runs Second Life, estimates that she's
bringing in around $150,000 a year--in real, hard cash."