Online Gaming and Pizza – SOE’s Synergistic Genius Revealed

“Boots chemist chain has had to organise extra security to stop people stealing David Beckham cardboard cut-outs,” the BBC news blared out the other day. It’s a shame when you’ve been at the coalface of the media world for so long that most news pieces have the auto-complete sentence “...said a PR person yesterday.” Still, tainted is as tainted does.

And it’s with our cynical heads screwed on Worzel Gummidge-style that we receive the press release from Sony Online Entertainment explaining how Everquest II now contains a connection to the real world.

According to SOE, players of the life-sapping MMORPG can simply type '/pizza' and order - yes you have indeed guessed it - a pizza! Though somewhat disappointingly, not through an in-game pizzeria staffed by orcs. Indeed, typing '/pizza' hyperlinks the player to the Pizza Hut website. Great.

"The goal for the future is to eventually let people do more things like this," said Chris Kramer, spokesman for Sony Online Entertainment. "They could type '/harry potter' and get the new Harry Potter book delivered or '/star wars' and get the new Star Wars DVD."

Can you imagine? Rather than having to open a browser, you can simply go to Amazon via the game in which you're currently embroiled.

Friends, surely this is proof that we are all living in the future!