When I first heard the news, at the end of last year, that a 22-year old man had bought an island in a MMORPG for almost £18,000, even I, as a fervent gamer, began to doubt my own keenness in gaming, and certain other people’s understanding of what life really is about.

However, reading further I can now appreciate the potential of what the Australian, David Storey, has done.

The game, Project Entropia, by a Swedish company MindArk AB, is free to download. Items, land, mining-rights etc cost in-game dollars (PED). PED’s can be bought using a credit card, and 1 PED is worth $1 (US).

The 6000 acre island is therefor an investment, especially when one considers the game’s 200,000 registered players, and these type of games, according to the BBC, “have a gross economic impact equivalent to the GDP of the African nation of Namibia.”

You see, the young antipodean has taxation rights on hunting and mining activities, as well as income from the sale of land lots.

Whether Mr Storey bought the island for economic purposes is not clear, but as long as the game maintains the public’s attention, then he has possibly made the year’s strangest investment. I just hope the other 200,000 odd players are not 16 year-olds with little spending power.