Outsource Bulgaria

Ubisoft might be expanding their Bulgarian operations but this isn’t the game outsourcing I’m talking about.

A new wave of game outsourcing has sprung - mainly on the back of MMOs and has risen to prominence with Blizzard’s blockbuster MMO – World of Warcraft.

The game has claimed seven million lives so far and a whole cottage industry has emerged that delivers simple services and virtual items to the players.

The bulk of the people who procure the items are based in China. In fact, this is the way many people in China are able to pay for the game – by acquiring items and gold and then selling them for real money.

The phenomenon has become so wide spread that Chinese “farmers” are subject of abuse on many servers. The main reason for the special attitude towards “farmers” comes from the fact that they would indiscriminantly collect any rare resources they can lay their hands on – leaving other players empty handed waiting for a re-spawn.

While this isn’t traditional outsourcing, it follows the same model. Looking at it, there might be a niche for an European player in this hot virtual items market.

I haven’t heard of Bulgarian farmers though… maybe it’s just a matter of time before some of us return to our agrarian roots!