MMO gold selling may be frowned upon by the majority of game operators, most notably the likes of Blizzard, but that hasn't stopped more than 30 per cent of online gamers from having 'purchased' in-game items or currency.

Speaking with the owner of WoW Gold Facts, Eurogamer discovered the size of the gold-selling business, and was told by the site's anonymous owner that operators should license transactions in order to legitimise and control it.

"In my opinion, the would be better served if publishers would recognise that lots of gamers - I've heard it's 30 percent of the player base - like the benefits of RMT, and work with credible companies and allow it to happen," the secret man revealed.

"I don’t see why this is not possible. They could make a condition of involvement in RMT that players give them a complete release of all forms of liability."

The industry is apparently worth 2 billion USD per year.

By Luke Guttridge