Jin Ge, a researcher at UCSD documenting the Chinese gold farming phenomenon, claims, “China is the factory of virtual goods” (Vincent). This ultimately results in new social and economic problems. While the pay is low and the hours are long, the wages are still an improvement from typical factory positions. This exploitation of migrant workers is a widespread issue in menial labor that has translated over from the real world into the virtual world. Secondly, the emergence of gold farming as a type of business in China—whether in prisons, sweatshops, or dormitories of friends—raises questions regarding the exporting of virtual goods from the country. Furthermore, specific to migrant workers, how does this new labor class influence the way in which youth migrants perceive their future and expectations for the future? 

Chinese gold farmers, who are predominantly young males between the ages of 20-30, influence the Chinese socioeconomic landscape through the creation of this new labor class. Migrant workers, who have been displaced from rural lands to urban lands, are victims of the compelled sale of farmlands to communist party capitalist developers for middle-class housing, rural villas, and Greenfield industrial sites (Dye-Witheford). In the past decade, more than 70 million farmers have lost their land in (Yardley). As a result, the juxtaposition of Blizzard’s—the video game publisher of the multi-billion dollar WoW franchise—digital prowess and the material prowess of China’s capitalism creates distinct alignment between migrant workers and the new labor class. When Blizzard searches for illegal virtual gold farmers in the WoW kingdom of Azeroth, the offenders it seeks are usually actual peasant farmers who have left or been thrown off their farmlands by Chinese capitalism’s enclosures, abandoning an impoverished and ecologically devastated countryside for its cyber-connected cities. 

In the real world, Chinese gold farming is a leader in its industry. According to some news articles, there are gold farms in Romania, Indonesia and Tijuana. However, these gold farms do not nearly approach the scope and scale of the gold farming industry in China. The large scale Chinese gold farms have hundreds of computers and employees, located mainly located in the Sichuan Province, Fujian Province, and Dong Bei area. The industry has gained so much momentum that the Chinese government has been actively searching for ways to regulate and tax it. For example, one gold farm, Donghua, has registered with the local Jin Hua government in the Zhe Jiang Province. This means that Donghua is legally a formal business and has started to pay taxes to the government. During this process, the Jin Hua government had difficulties characterizing and labeling Donghua. In the end, it was classified under the communication and information service sector. From an economic standpoint, we can see that there is much room for development and growth for the industry as online gaming becomes more and more widespread. 

But what about migrant labor?

Gold farming is still largely menial labor for most lower class folk (i.e. migrants). However, there are several reasons I've characterized it as "new" labor class. Firstly, out of all other forms of menial labor, gold farming is the most enjoyable, interactive (from, a virtual standpoint), and social. Like the law student taking a gap year, many people actively choose to engage in gold farming. In contrast, many jobs migrants take on in the real world are out of necessity for money (Barter). 

Secondly, it has been noted that while gaming companies are against the exploitation of their software for real-world money, China has not banned it as an industry. In fact, as mentioned earlier, the government is looking for ways to regulate and tax it. According to Professor Richard Heeks of the University of Manchester, "The reason the Chinese government hasn’t banned gold farming is because it doesn’t want to ban gold farming" (Barter). In 2009, China's gold farming industry generated approximately $1 billion (Barter). Since then, the industry has only expanded and become more lucrative. In a relatively more recent documentary by Anthony Gilmore titled Play Money, Gilmore travels to various gold farms across China. Whereas the media previously portrayed the working conditions of gold farms to be like sweatshops, Gilmore proves otherwise. As the industry has grown over the years, the working conditions has also improved. According to Gilmore, For the most part, comparative to similar service industry jobs, the workshops offer decent salaries, often with bonuses, and the work is safe. There is no need to worry about getting a hand caught in a sewing machine. Smaller workshops generally house workers on the premises. Some may also offer between one and three meals per day. The larger the company the more standard work conditions you find" (Barter). In fact, many gold farmers are pleased with their work because of job security, good salary, and friendly environment. The majority of power-levelers love their work because they get paid to play videogames. These workers are gamers first and foremost, just like the customers they support--gamers.

Lastly, although not the majority, some gold farmers are actually able to make a substantial living from gold farming. Those who are able to find the rarest items, hack into American or Western servers for direct access to the consumer base, etc. essentially hit the virtual lottery and can make a hefty sum. While this is rather unlikely as mature and popular games such as WoW have relatively high security, the sheer idea of such a possibility to "make it big" doesn't even exist in other menial jobs. There are little to no chances to make a large, lucrative sum of money in industries such as hotel/maid work, janitorial services, the food industry, etc. as a low, entry-level, unable-to-be-promoted (due to Hukou restrictions) employee.

So what does this all mean?

Migrants beget migrants, and until China decides to alter its Hukou or social policies, this is unlikely to change. However, this new labor class poses as an interesting anomaly in the grand scheme of things. Because gold farmers are unregulated, and thus do not need a Hukou to enter the industry, it's actually fairly reasonable for migrant workers in the industry to make a decent living relative to other "migrant" jobs.  However this is not to say that gold farmers are living the "white-collar dream" of professionally skilled workers. While there might be a light at the end of the end of the tunnel, it is still largely menial and precarious work. The future for the gold farming industry is highly unpredictable, but as of now, the virtual world has given these otherwise marginalized people an opportunity for more success than they were able to in the past--making real friends, relationships, and money in unreal places.