A court in the United Kingdom recognized the theft of gold in RuneScape as a criminal offense
In-game currency can indeed be classified as property.
RuneScape
Such a decision was made by the British Court of Appeal in the case of former Jagex employee Andrew Lakeman. Previously, the developer was accused of hacking the accounts of 68 RuneScape users and stealing in-game gold — Lakeman allegedly exchanged the illegally obtained currency for bitcoins and "fiat money," which were valued at a total of 543.1 thousand pounds sterling (748.4 thousand dollars).
In its ruling, the Court of Appeal reminded that the trial court initially refused to consider RuneScape gold as property. It agreed with Lakeman's lawyers, who argued that in-game currency is merely a digital object on Jagex servers without physical presence, and that RuneScape's gold supply is infinite, meaning gamers do not compete for it. However, the appeal considered the situation somewhat differently.
As emphasized by the Court of Appeal, RuneScape gold has real monetary value. Gamers can sell it both in the game and outside it — the latter is prohibited by RuneScape’s rules, but does not prevent some users from trading game gold on external platforms.
The verdict regarding Lakeman himself has not yet been rendered. The court has so far only determined that allegations of stealing game currency should be examined within the framework of British criminal law, while whether the developer is guilty or not will be clear during further hearings on the case.