Who Knew?

The shares, which went public last week on the NASDAQ as CYOU, immediately jumped to $22 before settling in at $20 by the end of the day—a 25% gain. While many IPOs tend to take a breather after a strong first day, the shares have continued strong, closing yesterday at $23.84.

Changyou runs a few MMOGs in China and makes money selling in-game advertising and virtual goods. This IPO is just another sign that the virtual goods market is still strong: Habbo sold $60 million worth of virtual goods in 2008, and the social network Hi5 is hoping that selling virtual goods will be the key to solving its financial woes.

Rob Walker tackled this idea that we now place value on “immaterial” wealth (including both virtual goods and social capital) on his blog last month (#1, #2).