| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (2009) |
| Headquarters | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |
| Key people | Duleepa Wijayawardhana (CEO) |
| Website | empireavenue.com |
| Type of site | Social network service |
| Registration | Required |
| Available in | English |
| Launched | July 28, 2010[1] |
| Current status | Active |
Empire Avenue is a stock market simulation social network game that allows users to buy and sell shares of people and websites.[2] It started in February 2010 as an invitation-only closed beta before launching to the public in July 2010.[1][3] Registration and game play is free.
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Players have their own portfolio in a virtual economy. The price of a player's share depends on the ticker's stock buying and selling, along with social networking activity.[4] Players can choose their own ticker symbol. The players can have multiple investors, which will garner them a higher share price, and they can invest in other players. Players win Achievements for their actions, such as advertising and adding services such as Twitter. Players gain dividends from the other shares in players they invest in, which are counted as Credits.
Social networks supported by Empire Avenue currently include Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Instagram, Wordpress hosted blogs and the player's own blog and RSS feeds.
Empire Avenue is designed to drive social media activity and social media interaction between the registered members. Players' value increases, in part, as a result activity on social media sites and their own verified blogs and rss feeds. In addition, a player's value increases through dividends paid-out by other members he or she has invested in. Thus, the social media activity of a player's investments also contributes to his or her game wealth. It is in players' self-interest to follow, favorite, or otherwise contribute to the social media activity of those they invest in.[5]
Much like other social media games, Empire Avenue uses a strictly virtual currency called Eaves as a means of purchasing shares in other players, additional rights within the exchange, advertising and services. Eaves can be purchased with real-world currency via PayPal, but cannot be exchanged for real-world currency. The founder and CEO of Empire Avenue said there are plans to introduce features that will allow players to exchange Eaves for real-world rewards.[6]
The Empire Avenue Application Programming Interface (API) allows for third party developers to develop applications to work alongside and extend Empire Avenue.