Virtual goods licensing

Source: TechCrunch

Blockbuster movies make a good deal of cash on "the ancillary toys, T-shirts, and backpacks that flood stores" along with the release of the movie. So, given that on virtual worlds people pay real dollars for digital gear for their avatars and their virtual rooms…it makes sense that movies would want a piece of the virtual action. Enter a new licensing deal between Paramount and Habbo - a teen site with 1.8 million US users to distribute virtual goods for The Spiderwick Chronicles, timed for the release of that Paramount movie. While the revenue for virtual goods is small now, it will likely grow. But either way Paramount wins, because millions of teens will be able to own and interact with pieces of their hot new movie. It's just marketing in a different framework.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/29/movie-licensing-goes-virtual-with-habbo-paramount-deal/