China Officially Bans Gold Farming

You know that little gold farming side business you have over in China, the one where you sell off large chunks of virtual currency that you have amassed in certain online games for real-world cash? Well, thanks to a new law, it looks like you’re going to have to close up shop for a while, or at least until China gets its groove back. Ok. So you're going out of business permanently.

Information Week reports that the Chinese government's latest effort in the war against everything is a new law that states that virtual currency “will only be allowed to trade in virtual goods and services provided by its issuer, not real goods and services.”

So from now on, it's virtual currency for virtual services, or nothing. And in case you were wondering what kind of action we’re talking about here, it’s estimated that gold farming generates somewhere between $200 million and $1 billion a year, and around 85 percent of gold farmers can be found in China.