Patent ID: 8409015

Claim:
A method performed by a computer, the method comprising: running, by a Video Game Central Server, a massive multi player online game that is operable to support a plurality of players via a plurality of video game devices, in which each of the players controls at least one player character, providing, by the Video Game Central Server, a game environment in the online game; requiring, by the Video Game Central Server, each of a subset of the player characters to pay a fee to a first player character in order to access the game environment; determining a valuation of the game environment based on the fees generated by the game environment; determining an opening share price for the game environment based on the valuation; selling shares of the game environment for the opening share price; distributing shares of the game environment to each of the subset of player characters that play in the game environment; and providing, to each of the subset of player characters, shares of stock in the game environment in proportion to the respective shares of the game environment held by the player character.