Turbine Working on New MMO with Micro-transactions

Lord of the Rings Online developer Turbine has confirmed that it is working on a new MMO that will include the micro-transaction business model.

The company posted a job listing for a micro-transaction and e-commerce manager earlier in the week, leading many to believe that it would be adding micro-transactions to its current MMOs. A Turbine spokesperson instead explained that the position is for work on an unannounced project.

"We know the recent job listing has caused a bit of a stir, but please be aware that this posting is for an unannounced future project," said Lord of the Rings Online community manager Sapience in a forum post.

Micro-transactions, or small payments in exchange for in-game benefits, have been a controversial but potentially lucrative source of revenue.

Games supported by micro-transactions typically include free-to-play titles, such as EA's Battlefield Heroes and Petroglyph's Mytheon. BioWare's upcoming Star Wars MMO The Old Republic has also been rumored to make use of the micro-transaction model.