Gamer buys virtual space station

Neverdie is a popular character in the land of Project Entropia

A virtual space resort being built in the online role-playing game, Project Entropia, has been snapped up for $100,000 (£56,200).

Jon Jacobs, aka Neverdie, won the auction for the as yet unnamed resort in the game, which lets thousands of players interact with each other.

Entropia also allows gamers to buy and sell virtual items using real cash.

The space station is billed as a "pleasure paradise". Last year, a gamer bought an island for $26,500 (£13,700).

The space station is described as a "monumental project" in the "treacherous, but mineral rich" Paradise V Asteroid Belt and comes with mining and hunting taxation rights.

With the price tag also comes mall shopping booth and market stall owner deeds, a land management system, a billboard marketing system, and space station naming rights.

Neverdie is a popular and well-known in-game character. He and another character, Island Girl, appeared in a 2003 dance music movie Hey DJ!, which starred Jon Jacobs, Charlotte Lewis, and Tina Leiu.

Money for growth

Entropia has 236,000 registered accounts. In the game, players exchange real currency with PEDs (Project Entropia Dollars).

A virtual island was bought in the game last year

The bids for the space station started at one PED and was won in just three days.

The Entropia economy lets gamers exchange real currency into PED (Project Entropia Dollars) and back again into real money.

Ten PEDs are the equivalent to one US dollar and typical items sold include Repedge battle axes at 4.55 PEDs and Angelic Flakes at 1.48 PEDs.

The currency means that players, or members, can invest in personal development and growth by buying up goods, buildings, and land in the Entropia universe.

Project Entropia is set on a distant planet called Calypso which is made up of two continents with large expanding cities.