The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) today introduced a new social game designed for budding property investors. Australia’s major bank has released Investorville, an online simulation tool that helps users de-mystify the often complex world of property investment, including simulating ongoing costs, without ever putting any of their own capital at risk.

Commonwealth Bank and creative agency BMF created the property investment tool, which combines market insights from RP Data and innovative web-based technology. Investorville mimics reality to provide people with real-time exposure to the property market, allowing them to make more informed property decisions.

Mark Murray, General Manager Commonwealth Bank Consumer Marketing, explains Investorville helps to break down common misconceptions and show the practicalities of property investment.

“The really beneficial part of Investorville is that users can, in the true sense of the term, try before they buy. The properties and data are reflective of the Australian property market and the types of properties available” Mr Murray went on to say.

Aaron Michie, Interactive Concepts Director at BMF, the creators of Investorville, explains further: We’d seen property games and property investment planners before, but none seemed to offer an experience that a person could apply to the real-life challenges they were facing. Investorville combines sophisticated economic modelling and real market data with a simple user-friendly gameplay to give people realism and simplicity.”

Commonwealth Bank’s Investorville is the second online innovation developed by the Bank to enable people to be better informed when it comes to real estate. Launched in 2010, the Commonwealth Bank Property Guide iPhone App uses augmented reality to overlay data and tools onto the phone’s screen, providing property information on almost any premises the phone is pointed at.