5 lessons from the $15 billion virtual goods economy

While tempting to dismiss virtual goods as a niche category, constrained to online games and messaging apps, its real market impact is far larger than many might think. Since the earliest social networks, virtual goods have played a critical role in shaping the behaviors and business models behind many of today’s major trends in online engagement. Virtual goods now create more than $15 billion in annual revenue. Here are five ways developers and entrepreneurs can directly benefit from those learnings.

Lesson #1: Maintain a flexible business model

Like many online publishers, some early social-game developers focused on monetization opportunities via digital advertising. Launched in 2001, one of first to gain traction with this approach was a massive multiplayer online (MMO) role-playing game, Runescape.