Unearthed by our friends at TechCruch and reported last Friday, it seems as though Zynga has filed for a patent on virtual currency. The U.S. Patent Application #2010022767, titled Virtual Playing Chips in a Multiuser Online Game Network, specifically names FarmVille and Zynga as Examples of Embodiments. The application continues, naming “Non-Redeemable Virtual Currency” and “Non-Redeemable Poker Chips” as Zynga inventions, and thus, objects the company claims ownerships of.
As noted by Alexia Tsotsis in the original TechCrunch article, it appears as what Zynga’s after through this filing is patent on the ability to buy virtual currencies that can not be then later traded for actual currency. The specific wording:
“A method, comprising:receiving, at a server, a purchase order for virtual currency from a player, wherein the purchase order was made with legal currency, and wherein the virtual currency is usable within the context of a computer-implemented game;crediting an account of the player with virtual currency, wherein the virtual currency is not redeemable for legal currency;receiving a second purchase order for a virtual object within the context of the computer-implemented game from the player, wherein the second purchase order was made with virtual currency; anddebiting the account of the player based on the second purchase order.”
I’m no legal scholar, but from what I read from this filing is that Zynga is essentially attempting to patent the process of purchasing virtual currency that cannot then be resold. Additionally, sources indicate that Zynga may implement a fraud prevention system, blocking players from using real world cash to purchase virtual funds from other players within Zynga titles. I see two fundamental problems here, 1.) isn’t the process of purchasing virtual currency a service, and not a patentable action? and 2.) Zynga is effectively targeting the elimination of a secondary market.
VentureBeat’s Mattew Lynley offers up the theory that Zynga is pursuing this patent in order to protect and further their Zynga Poker title. Zynga Poker, you’ll remember, was the only title specifically left out of the Zynga goes exclusive with Facebook Credits deal that went down on September 8th. And oh look … it appears as though Zynga filed for this patent on – you guessed it, September 9th, 2010.
Lynley makes the case that in Zynga Poker, the use of virtual currencies may for under state gambling rules. In some states online gambling is highly regulated, in others, completely illegal. With this patent filing, Zynga is attempting to make the case that cash flow is one way – meaning players can pay into the system, but never take money out, thus circumventing any governmentally implemented gambling regulations.
Win or lose, I see this as a harmful move by Zynga. If they win, well, they just became the name in practically any and all online games that involve virtual currencies (how is this not a monopoly?). If they lose, they’ve opened the doors to an entire flood of other gaming companies to attempt the same feat, or at least set a precedent for legal minds to work their way around.
