目前，针对社交网站、社交游戏及虚拟世界中成千上万虚拟商品的管理市场正在逐渐升温。

PlaySpan作为一个在线游戏和社交网络的货币化平台，自2006年以来，获得了其现有的投资商Menlo Ventures、STIC International和Novel TMT价值近4200万美元的投资。最近，投资商Vodafone Ventures、Softband Bodhi Fund对其投资1800万美元，该公司计划运用这笔投资扩大欧洲和亚洲市场。

PlaySpan与许多在线游戏、社交网站或虚拟世界服务合作，同时牵手主要的媒体公司，如迪士尼、Nickelodeon，通过平台处理虚拟商品和数字商品购物的货币化。该公司曾与史努比公司合作，创建虚拟商品经销处Virtual Greats，销售特许的史努比虚拟商品系列。这些商品首先在PlaySpan的虚拟世界情景聊天市场出售，包括帽子、墨镜、比基尼泳衣、乐器和服装等。所有商品的价格均在2美元以上。如果你也喜欢在IMVU上聊天，或许你会愿意买一副史努比墨镜来增加魅力。

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同时PlaySpan还提供包含85种支付方式的UltimatePay服务。通过UltimatePay，用户可以用世界首款预付游戏卡——Ultimate游戏卡扩大市场。而UltimatePoints则为按点击付费服务，其交易金额可最小至1美分。

虚拟物品市场的扩张

近年来，由于Facebook、Bebo等社交网络及由此衍生社交游戏的发展的出现，虚拟商品和虚拟货币市场正经历这前所未有的快速发展。

Zynga，作为发布了“FarmVille”的最大网络社交游戏出版商，每个月吸引了2亿以上用户，。据2009年PlaySpan和VGMarket Landmark的一份数字商品研究表明：目前，让玩家赚取虚拟货币而非直接购买虚拟货币的虚拟交易市场整体价值达到了7亿2000万美元，2011年该市场将占据游戏市场总收入的20%。而单单Zynga则预计在今年便创下10亿美元的价值。

然而现在评论PlaySpan还为时尚早。该公司的合伙人兼行政总裁Karl Mehta最近称：每个月PlaySpan都迎来20个新合作伙伴，在2010年累计签下100多位合作伙伴，他们均为发展最快的500家企业之列。（译者：dora）

The market to process the billions of virtual goods purchases on social networks, social games and virtual worlds is heating up.

PlaySpan, a monetization platform for online games and social networks, raised $18 million in funding from investors Vodafone Ventures, Softbank Bodhi Fund, and existing investors Menlo Ventures, STIC International, and Novel TMT Ventures, boosting the company’s total funding to $42 million since its founding in 2006. The company plans to use the money to expand to Europe and Asia.

The Santa Clara, Calif-based startup is among the many companies, such as Zong and Boku, taking advantage of the explosive popularity of digital goods. Last month, PlaySpan expanded its offering by allowing publishers to charge micro-payments for videos.

PlaySpan works with more than 1000 online games, social networks, and virtual world services, as well as leading media companies, such as Disney and Nickelodeon, to handle the monetization of virtual and digital goods purchases their platforms. It’s also scored some high-profile deals in the past, such its partnership with Snoop Dogg, and branded virtual goods agency Virtual Greats, to sell a licensed virtual Snoop Dogg line. The rapper’s virtual goods will appear first in PlaySpan’s marketplace on the virtual world IMVU and will include hats, sunglasses, bikinis, musical instruments, DJ sets, and clothing, all priced at $2 and up. So, if you’re on IMVU, you can probably buy a pair of Snoop Dogg’s sunglasses to look cool.

Among the offerings provided by PlaySpan include UltimatePay, which incorporates over 85 payment methods through a simple and accessible user interface.  Through UltimatePay, users can expand their markets through Ultimate Game Card, the world’s first prepaid game card, and UltimatePoints, which provides for one-click in-game payments and handles transactions as small as $0.01.

Exploding virtual goods market

The market for virtual goods and virtual currency has experienced unprecedented growth in recent years due to the emergence of social networks like Facebook and Bebo, and the social games that grew out of those networks.

Zynga, the largest social game publisher on the Web and the group from which Farmville emerged, draws more than 230 million unique users each month and accounts for more than half of the games played by Facebook users alone each month.  According to a 2009 digital goods study by PlaySpan and VGMarket Landmark, allowing players to earn virtual currency rather than pay for it directly is now a $720 million business and is projected to account for up to 20 percent of gaming revenue by 2011.  Zynga alone is expected to make approximately $1 billion this year.

While PlaySpan was not immediately available to comment, the company’s cofounder and CEO, Karl Mehta, has previously claimed that PlaySpan is adding 20 new partners each month and signed over 100 partners in 2010, placing them among the Inc. 500 Fastest Growing Companies. （source：vator）