Swedish Entropia Universe Creator Mindark To Go Public on London Market

Swedish MMORPG developer Mindark PE is planning to go public. The creator of the virtual world Entropia Universe says it has hired CSFB to advise it on the process, and that it intends to use the money for growth and acquisitions. Entropia Universe (formerly Project Entropia) lets users play for free, while the company makes money on in-game commerce. Last year, Mindark gained attention when it announced the availability of an ATM card that would let users turn in-game currency into actual cash. It claims to have over 650,000 users, up from 30,000 in 2007. Terms of the IPO were not specified. Release (pdf)

FT: In May it beat rival Second Life to a contract to create a cash-based virtual economy for China. The Chinese authorities hope to reduce pollution by encouraging people to work from home through the world’s largest virtual universe. The network is expected to handle 7m users at one time and enable $1bn a year in e-commerce. Entropia currently turns over $1m a day and MindArk says it has been profitable for the past 14 quarters.

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