Analayst Values TF2's Hat Trade

[Gahars]

Ever since Valve introduced hats in TF2, they seem to have become the main focus of the games. Players have made an entire economy based around trading for these seemingly trivial items; this has lead to many "clever" quips like, "Team Fortress 2? More like Hat Fortress 2!"

But have you ever wondered just how big that economy was?

Well, somebody at this site did. After performing some calculations, he determined (after some initial errors) that the TF2 economy is worth more than $22 million dollars. And that's a conservative estimate.

Source

Whether it's $50 or $22 million dollars, that's still a lot of cash being spent on hats and other items in the game. For anyone who laughed at the inclusion of hats, it seemed that Valve has had the last laugh... all the way to the bank.

 

[Sterling]

I can't view the photo. PB is being a bitch. Also the topic:

 

[Joe88]

why do you think it went f2p?
so new users would buy hats

some of the rare unusual hats can go for hundreds of dollars in real world money,
earbuds for instance which where given to every user how signed into tf2 while using the mac version of steam when it first started, costs $23 today

 

[The Milkman]

I got a friend who actually invests and sells/buys hat. I asked him how much he could make for me if I gave him 10 bucks. He said 15-20 atleast. Pretty shocking how a whole "market" was built off some polygons shaped like hats.

 

[Hells Malice]

I got a friend who actually invests and sells/buys hat. I asked him how much he could make for me if I gave him 10 bucks. He said 15-20 atleast. Pretty shocking how a whole "market" was built off some polygons shaped like hats.

You want impressive?
I had a guy in my grade 9 Drafting and Design class. He showed me his runescape account with a bank full of rare items like partyhats, easter eggs and stuff like that.
Thinking back on it, by todays standards his bank account for this crappy little virtual game was worth approximately $100,000, at the very least. For pixels.

It's not surprising at all that the TF2 marketplace is also starting to gain value. Virtual items can be surprising.

I know neopets is, or was, similar. People bought and sold items for $100 if it was rare.

 

[Deleted-236924]

Thinking back on it, by today's standards his bank account for this crappy little virtual game was worth approximately $100,000, at the very least. For pixels.

But, from what I understand, TF2 hats can be bought with real money directly from the company.
Those Runescape items cannot be bought with real money without breaking some game rule and are (as of now) only available through trading in-game currency.

After reading up on the subject, I was completely wrong.
Disregard this post.

 

[ShadowSoldier]

Just saying, I got more excited when I got hats in Runescape.

 

[zygie]

I also knew a guy who made $1000 in a month, and used the money to upgrade his PC. Unbelievable, yet, maybe I just don't know the scope since I don't play.