Patent ID: 7780532

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, in which the game environment is owned by a first player character; requiring, by the video game central server, each of a subset of the player characters to pay a fee to the first player character in order to enter 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; offering real stock in the game environment on a real world stock exchange; providing, to each of the subset of player characters, shares of real stock in proportion to the respective shares of the game environment held by the player character; the game environment is created by at least one of the player characters; and determining if a second player character is eligible to create a game environment.