Companies in China pay thousands of people, known as “farmers”, to play MMORPGs all day, and then profit from selling the in-game goods they generate to other players for real money.

One day soon, you'll see digital protestors gathered outside a WTO chat room in which a treaty on the trade balance in virtual goods is being debated.

In one case in South Korea, the police intervened when a hoard of in-game money was stolen and sold, netting the thieves $1.3m.

Worlds without end