Leveraging online game goals and economy to drive off-line

A method to leverage a gaming infrastructure to encourage actions in a non-virtual environment to achieve virtual world rewards or benefits, the method comprising:

• from time to time Gameco servers contact a participant, via the participant's computing device, to notify the participant of an opportunity to achieve virtual rewards in a gaming environment or virtual world via visiting a specific geographical location in the non-virtual environment and performing some action in the non-virtual environment;
• participant is verified as participating;
• Gameco servers determine if the opportunity has been met and award virtual reward to participant;
• Gameco servers determine that additional opportunities exist for a specific participant at or near the specific geographical location;
• and
• Gameco notifying participant of the opportunity.

A method to leverage a gaming infrastructure to encourage commercial purchases in a non-virtual environment, the method comprising:

• a client contacts Gameco and agrees on an offer of virtual world benefits or rewards to be awarded participants in an online game for performing activities in a real world;
• Gameco servers populate the offer via a notification to the computing devices of at least some of the participants in the online game, wherein the participant must perform the activity at a threshold level to obtain a reward in the virtual game world;
• client pays Gameco for providing the notification;
• and
• client subsidizes at least part of the costs of the virtual reward.