Starting now, Mattel (MAT) is offering a premium subscription option to its phenomenally popular Barbie Girls web-based virtual world. Since beta launch April 2007, it’s amassed a record-breaking 13 million registered users, with over 2.3 million of those monthly active users.
At $5.99 a month, the new “Barbie Girls V.I.P” account gives girls a wealth of additional perks for their avatars, like a virtual pet, exclusive access to a “Extreme DreamPark,” and, of course, “a special virtual tiara.” Which that means starting this week, millions of parents will face a uniquely 21st century dilemma: Should they pay $72 a year so their little girls can enjoy playing with Barbies that don’t, in the strictest sense, exist?
That’s also a challenge for the virtual world industry, which often depends on low-cost virtual item sales (ala Gaia Online and Habbo Hotel) or pre-paid physical toys (ala Webkinz) for its revenue.
Mattel’s subscription plan is an aggressively priced alternative, and many will be watching to see if this name-brand toy company can attract a decent number of upgrades. That’s far from certain, for while millions of teens and adults happily pay $15 a month to play World of Warcraft, $5.99/month seems like a high price point for pre-teens. Then again, a Barbie 3-Story Dream House Playset will set parents back $275, so maybe they won’t mind paying a lot less for the virtual version.
Image credit: barbiegirls.com.
4 trackbacks so far
7:00 AM PT
[...] time. Mattel has finally added a $6-per-month premium account option for the Barbie Girls web site. GigaOM wonders if $72 per year is worth it for parents “so their little girls can enjoy playing with Barbies [...]
5:03 PM PT
[...] DestroyFlickr, Barbie Girls V.I.P., My Team Zone, OurPlanet, SproutCore, Viewzi, Sense Networks, [...]
8:18 PM PT
[...] A heads-up to GigaOM for the original story. [...]
7:21 AM PT
[...] While not yet profitable, the company plans to roll out pre-paid IMVU currency cards in Target, Blockbuster, and other major retail chains in the next two weeks. With light 3D graphics and cute-sexy cartoon avatars that clearly appeal to girls and young women, it’s easy to see them dominating their particular niche in the virtual world ecosystem, roughly dead center between Second Life and Barbie Girls. [...]
8 comments so far
6:36 AM PT
My guess is no. I have an eight-year-old, and she’s far more interested in Webkinz and the Disney properties. These kids are growing up much faster, and neither she nor her friends are still playing with Barbies. They call them “baby toys.”
7:11 AM PT
If your kid wants it and uses it, parents will pay. I’d rather spend $6 a month on a virtual toy than the $10 to $20 on plastic crap that clutters up the house. Plus, it’s something a tween could pay for using her allowance if she wanted it so badly. Although I wonder how many subscriptions a kid or parent would be willing to bankroll.
7:56 AM PT
I think absolutely parents will pay. Barbie is huge for a reason. It resonates across generations and parents immediately know what it is. With that level of install base and there is almost no way it won’t print cash.
9:32 AM PT
The more general question is: Hw far can Mattel push parents on this? Once they start getting $6/month for VIP, Mattel will just use this world to push live event tix, physical goods and more virtual purchases not covered by VIP subscriptions. Like drug dealers, the first taste was free, but now…
10:54 AM PT
Hell no! ahhahaah
12:43 PM PT
I really hope that they won’t. As much as I love the internet and computers and all things geek, I also think kids need more real play and less virtual play.
Tell your kids to get off the computer and go outside to play.
8:07 AM PT
It actually seems like a pretty average price point for subscription-based kids virtual worlds. So I’d guess yes. It’s not much more than Club Penguin charges, and 700,000 penguins can’t all be wrong. What I find interesting, and talk more about at Virtual Worlds News, is that it’s more expensive to get access to the purely virtual V.I.P. experience than it was to buy the MP3 player + 1 physical accessory to unlock exclusive content. (link)
5:09 PM PT
HELL NO! PARENTS WOULDN’T PAY FOR VIRTUAL NOTHINGNESS WORTH SHIT!
HELL WITH BARBIE~!