eRepublik is set in a mirror world, where the virtual countries are those that exist on any real world political map, but democracy is the system of government everywhere. Players are known as, "Citizens," and they can choose to be citizens of any of the 65 countries that have been activated in the game. Citizens can be employees or own businesses. They can run for office and vote for candidates. Frequently they wage war on other countries. They even publish newspapers, particularly for propaganda purposes. One newspaper has 10,000 subscribers.
"eRepublik is now in its third year," said Alexis Bonte, 34 years old, the co-founder and CEO of eRepublik Labs. "We have a total of 2.5 million registered players and of those, the ones who play on a monthly basis are around 250,000. Where we are quite different is that of that number, 120-130 thousand play every day. So we have a very active community and the people who are playing, play very intensely."
eRepublik was created to meet the entertainment requirements of 25-35 year old men who enjoy playing strategy games, but don't have long hours to devote to daily game play. Bonte said that 15 to 30 minutes a day is enough of a commitment to the game to have a good outcome. The game is very militaristic, mostly due the fact that 90 percent of the players are men who according to Bonte "like to fight." Ninety-nine percent of eRepublik’s content is user generated and one hundred percent of the game-play is based on user interaction. The game has gone in a military direction because that's what the community desires.
"It's a game," said Bonte. "I would much rather have people wage war in the game than in real life."
A virtual nation called Saudi Arabia exists in eRepublik, but it's not much like the real Kingdom. Cities in the virtual country have been taken over by Egypt, Greece and Israel. There are very few "citizens" to fight against the invaders. Arab News reader Noman Durrani put out an urgent appeal for people to join the game in order to support "Saudi pride and honor," and to turn the virtual nation into a "Superpower."
Bonte advised that this is a common tactic that players turn to when their virtual nation is in trouble. It was used last month when virtual Turkey was annihilated. A call for new players went out and so many joined out of patriotic spirit that Turkey experienced what the eRepublik community calls a "baby boom." With so many players available to support virtual Turkey, the nation quickly overcame its conquerors and became a Superpower. Because the game is very militaristic, countries get invaded all the time. It is very easy to start a resistance war and surrounding countries often support countries under siege because everyone is wary of any virtual country gaining too much power.
"In eRepublik, the whole patriotic element is quite important," Bonte remarked. "People don't just care about their own personal character; the citizen in eRepublik that they want to grow. They actually care that their country does well or that their political party succeeds."
Patriotism can lead to profits for eRepublik Labs. The game is free to play, but those players who purchase eRepublik Gold, a fictional currency used in the eRepublik World, can quickly become strong and dominant. eRepublik Gold can be obtained free by reaching certain levels or achievements but Bonte advised that about ten percent of active players do buy eRepublik Gold in order to build a virtual company, sign an alliance, found a political party or start an official war. Bonte admitted that the easiest way for virtual Saudi Arabia to regain its borders would be for a few dozen players to join and use eRepublik Gold and a smart strategy of alliances to overcome the invaders.
"Players can help their countries and fight without paying anything," Bonte said. "People who want to be the hero in a battle or create a huge economic empire are the ones who buy eRepublik Gold. We play on a lot of different hooks and desires to get monetization, and patriotism is one of them."
In addition to Gold purchases by credit card, the real world can also intrude into the game in other ways. eRepublik's transformation of the global political system into a democracy has not been universally welcomed. Not every nation finds it amusing to see their government taken over by virtual forces that they believe might have real world impacts. For instance, the game can be played from Hong Kong, but the authorities in mainland China have blocked access to the site.
"The reason we were blocked in China is because there is a multiparty system in the game with free elections and democracy," commented Bonte. "People used the game to learn how to be politicians, run a political party and gain supporters. That wasn't very popular with the authorities in China. A lot of people still play from China using IP rerouters and other means. There are also 'citizens' of China based in other countries. I would hope that a similar situation takes hold anywhere that the game is barred."
