Jeremy Liew, a managing director with Lightspeed Venture Partners who focuses on consumer Internet companies in sectors like gaming and social media, is a big believer in virtual goods.
Liew recently stopped by GigaOM HQ for a quick chat about the explosive growth of that market and where it’s headed. Liew believes:
- There is still a lot of growth left in the virtual goods space as mechanisms come online that allow people to trade time for money (for more on this, see Om’s interview with CrowdFlower’s CEO).
- The iPad won’t be a game-changer in the virtual goods space at first, but could be, depending on adoption of the device.
- Buying virtual goods in games is not cheating, but rather is akin to a golfer purchasing a better putter.
- Companies looking to his firm for funding should realize that games are a hits-driven business. Creating one really expensive game is less appealing than the ability to affordably take “multiple shots on goal.”
For more in-depth analysis on MMOs, check out the report Virtual Worlds: Trends and Opportunities at our subscription research service, GigaOM Pro.
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