Whyville

- Educational, browser-based virtual learning world with over 5MM registered ‘citizens’
- Targeted at ages 8 – 15
- Each month, more than 2MM visits are made to Whyville
- Approximately 60,000 new players register every month
- Players spend an average of 34 minutes per login in Whyville, and 3 hours in total per month
- In 2008, Whyville changed from a subscription-based to a micro-transactions business model
- Revenue is generated through the purchase of virtual items using Whyville’s virtual currency, ‘Pearls’
- Previously, the subscription fee was $4.95, now players can purchase ‘Pearls’ in $5 and $10 denominations
- CEO Jim Bower has reported that with the subscription model, there was a 5-10% uptake for active users, but the ‘Pearls’ were doubling this number
- Revenue is generated as a combination of corporate and institutional sponsorship and virtual items sales

[Sources: Whyville.com, VirtualWorldsNews 2008]