Live Gamer Gets $24MM for Publisher-Supported Virtual Goods Trading

Live Gamer, Inc., a newly formed company devoted to publisher-supported virtual items training--will announce today that it has raised $24 million from Charles River Ventures, Kodiak Venture Partners and Pequot Ventures. Live Gamer is working with Funcom GMBH, Sony Online Entertainment, 10TACLE STUDIOS, Acclaim, GoPets LTD, and Ping0 Interactive Limited to establish a publisher-sanctioned market place for real-money trading of virtual goods . "Virtual item trading is already transforming the way people experience MMOGs and virtual worlds, but in its traditional underground context, the impact could be as easily negative as positive for a given player or world. An economy this large clearly needs a legitimate trading infrastructure that serves the needs of each of its millions of participants," co-founder and president Andrew Schneider said in a statement.

Mitch Davis and Andrew Schneider co-founded the company with an extensive background in the space. Davis was founded and served as CEO for  in-game advertising company Massive Schneider worked for Sony Pictures Digital, NBC and Wind-up Records.

While virtual goods have done a booming business even in the illicit, unsactioned markets, many publishers have been slow to embrace real-money trade. Funcom, which only recently began selling virtual goods, believes that's lost potential.

"Virtual trading has the potential to open an entirely new dimension for the player experience in some games, but it has also caused endless grief through the actions of gold farmers and fraud artists, as well as the generally poor quality of service to participants," Trond A. Aas, CEO of Funcom said in a statement. "Live Gamer makes it possible for publishers to satisfy players' growing demand for this type of activity in selected future games by providing a legitimate and balanced outlet that protects their experiences. We really look forward to offering this opportunity to players in our upcoming casual MMOG."

Others who have been pushing virtual goods for a while see this as just another step.

"I'm very bullish on virtual goods as a way of monetizing consumer audiences,"  Susan Wu, a partner at Charles River Ventures, told the Wall Street Journal. That's certainly true.  Charles River Ventures has also invested in Conduit and Areae. Wu also co-hosted the Virtual Goods Summit last summer.