Against this cataclysmic economic and social backdrop, millions of people have fled the country in search of better lives, together with OSRS gold many more desperately attempting to find their own way of escape. In November 2019, the number of migrants and refugees reached 3 million. Those who remain in the country have been made to discover innovative methods to live.

[There are two main versions of RuneScape 3 and Old School RuneScape (OSRS). OSRS is the older and more popular variant, which is favored by Venezuelan RuneScape players since it's simpler to run and does not use much data. For the remainder of this story, when we refer to RuneScape, we are referring to OSRS.] RuneScape was released in 2001 by developer Jagex, but it's only in the last four decades a rising number of Veneuzelans have started depending RuneScape because their main source of revenue. 1 such RuneScape player is ex-accountant Martinez, who asked that his name not be printed to protect his RuneScape account. Martinez stopped his job after the inflation rate of the bolivar meant he could no more endure on the money he earned.

RuneScape was a lifeline for Martinez and his entire family. He informs Polygon he made $450 by farming in RuneScape, and used that money to flee Venezuela and move to Peru. He continued to play RuneScape and saved an additional $1,000, which he used to get his mother and girlfriend from the nation. "RuneScape is a super popular approach to make money in this era," Martinez writes. "Depending on which state in Venezuela you are from, pretty much everyone knows about RuneScape."

Farming, or"gold farming," as it is more commonly known, involves playing a video game with the particular aim of amassing vast amounts of in-game money (in this instance, RuneScape gold) to sell for profit out RuneScape. It is nothing new, as Venezuela's infrastructure has been not able to function in recent years, however, it has become more conspicuous. Every Venezuelan RuneScape player we spoke to for this story told us they sell their gold for U.S. dollars or cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, meaning that buy RuneScape gold their hard work is not jeopardized by the hyperinflation of their currency, the Venezuelan bolivar.