The seven-year-old Curious Capitalist Jr. is allowed dominion over the family iMac on Saturday mornings, and one of his favorite destinations is Club Penguin, where he sometimes arranges to chat with friends from school but mainly just plays the lame-seeming games to win more swag for his penguin avatar.
What’s his and a whole lot of other kids’ penguin time worth? About $450 million. That, according to the hard-working people at paidcontent.org (link via Kedrosky), is what Sony is planning to pay Club Penguin’s Canadian creators for the site. Something about this whole thing creeps me out, but I’m not sure why. It’s certainly better than Saturday morning TV.
Update: The boy is appalled at the news. Club Penguin “is perfect the way it is,” he says.