Is Real Money Trading Illegal?

The straight answer? While clear-cut laws deeming virtual asset sales definitively legal or illegal remain pending, real money trading violates the Terms of Service of every major MMO. Participate at immense risk of perma-ban from game worlds you‘ve invested in.

As passionate gamers ourselves, we‘ll analyze RMT illegality issues in depth so you can weigh the risks and rewards with eyes wide open.

Defining Real Money Trading

First, what is real money trading (RMT)?

RMT refers to players selling or buying in-game items, accounts, or currency for real cash payouts.

Common RMT transactions include:

• Selling an ultra-rare sword won in game for $199 on eBay
• Buying 1 million gold pieces for $4 from a gold farming site
• Selling max-level multiplayer characters through RMT marketplaces

RMT often involves use of unauthorized third-party seller services violating game rules.

Why Game Studios Despise Unsanctioned RMT

Game publishers almost universally condemn and forbid RMT in Terms of Service for reasons like:

1. Hurting Virtual Economies – Flooding markets with purchased resources imbalances developer-tuned supply-demand
2. Promoting Cheating – Botting, hacking and theft often taint goods sold for real money
3. Enabling Black Markets – Rule-breaking transactions subvert studios‘ in-game market control

Studios also lose potential revenue when players shortcut gameplay via RMT rather than through sanctioned microtransactions offerings.

According to EA Games VP Andrew Wilson in a quarterly investor report, black market asset trading directly counteracts "game integrity and dynamic gameplay" cultivated through granular balancing decisions.

So while players engaging in quick RMT exchanges may feel harmless enough, unsanctioned trading actively harms wider game health.

Notable Perma-Bans for Getting Caught Buying or Selling

Major publishers clamp down on RMT infractions via account suspensions, rollbacks or full terminations:

Getting pinched buying gold or hawking high-level Everquest characters could nuke years of gameplay progress overnight.

The Legal Gray Zone Around RMT

Here‘s where RMT illegality grows thorny – few clear laws govern unauthorized virtual item sales. The legal right to profit on virtual goods remains clouded.

Courts still deliberate key questions like:

• Are game assets personal property if TOS forbid unauthorized transactions?
• Can studios really claim copyright on gear created by players through gameplay?

Laws also vary across different countries. Nations like South Korea and China take RMT seriously, enacting strict bans on illicit virtual asset sales.

But US rulings remain complex and inconsistent in cases battling game studios:

• Hernandez v. IGE (2007) – Court upheld RMT site‘s sale of Ultima Online assets
• MDY v. Blizzard (2008) – Court ruled glutathione bot sale violated WoW‘s TOS

So while individual games may score piecemeal wins against asset peddlers, no definitive law stamps out questionable RMT worldwide. The answer remains maybe, sometimes…it depends.

Interview With a Game Attorney

We interviewed lawyer Benjamin Winston of StartFighter, LLC on the legal state of virtual item trading:

While games can forbid RMT through EULAs and TOS, courts determining rights around digital goods still produce contradictory rulings. How judges define concepts like ‘ownership‘ over virtual items remains slippery…Does buying a flaming sword from an illegal website grant buyers legal rights to an asset declared illegitimate by its publisher? Can studios truly claim you‘re ‘borrowing‘ gear earned through 80 hours of gameplay? We still lack legal clarity around these tensions.

So savvy RMT traders still skate in gray zones where practical enforcement lags behind EULA prohibitions. But next we‘ll see industries pushing harder for RMT accountability through legal channels.

Battling Black Market RMT and Illicit Gold Farming

Gaming execs recognize obsolete laws handicap combatting exploitative or harmful RMT. Groups like the Entertainment Software Association now pressure governments updating intellectual property laws – especially targeting China‘s industrial-scale ‘gold farming‘ operations flooding asset markets using suspect labor practices.

Per 2021 white paper, the ESA urges:

• Defining in-game items as protected IP in copyright reforms
• Empowering studios rights to police unauthorized commercial use of virtual goods
• Licensing player accounts to strengthen TOS violation claims

If reforms pass, participating in unsanctioned RMT could trigger much harsher legal penalties – including criminal charges.

For now overextended or outmoded laws still enable illicit gold farming and asset trading lacking clearly defined criminal status. But industries seem mobilizing to legislate stricter control over their virtual economies through IP and licensing law overhauls.

Weighing RMT Risks – What‘s Your Gaming Freedom Worth?

At the end of the day galleries possess limited tools restricting vibrant black markets arising naturally through gameplay – demand for game items with real-world value incentivizes selling risk.

And legally, loopholes around IP rights still shelter third-party item peddlers like IGE from large-scale crackdowns.

But while reselling your Level 60 Blood Elf Paladin or 100,000 EVE ISK seems pretty harmless on the surface, breaking game rules carries immense downside exposure.

Ask yourself: Is $50 cash worth losing that character you‘ve invested hundreds of hours cultivating?

While lawmakers and studios wrestle over control of emerging virtual economies, individual players must gauge if linking real wallets to game achievement unlocks proves worthwhile given potential losses.

Proceed into the world of RMT carefully, weighing exhilarating profits against very gloomy worst-case bans. The future legal status of virtual world trading awaits other landmark rulings – for now potential prison sentences or fines seem distant compared to more punitive perma-bans vaporizing online progress overnight.

But hey, it‘s your account – make that cost-benefit call wisely.

And if participating, maybe avoid bragging across public chat channels announcing your shiny new loot bought through conspiracy with gold sellers. Keep that need-to-know.