Virtual Worlds Forum

Here's a quote to make your heart sink, from the CEO of gaming firm Rocketon, talking about how ringtones, online games and virtual world items can generate revenues from teenagers:

"Teens have a lot of money to spend but they are very careful what they spend it on. The idea for vendors is to make getting into it free. Then once you suck them in, you have to make it enough of a value so that they will part with their money."

Granted, this is a quote from a news report on HP's Teens Plugged In conference, and so may have been taken out of context. But with so much activity in the kidworld market, there are sure to be concerns if a bunch of startups dive in looking to squeeze as much money out of their young users as possible. In recent years, premium-rate mobile content vendors like Jamster have faced flak for overcharging teens. Could the virtual worlds sector follow suit?