A Game Time Card (also called Game Time Code) generally refers to any one-time use code that allows you subscription time to a certain game, usually a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG). These are a quite popular alternative to normal subscription method of cyclical billing that most games offer because the GTC is usually comparable in cost and can be given as a gift or used on any account for that game.
"MMORPGs are large commercial undertakings that charge a fee to begin playing the game, to continue playing the game, or both. The Game Time Code, or GTC, is, in essence, a voucher allowing you access to the game world for a specified period. GTC has also been expanded to include the new account codes, also referred to as a “CD key.”
EVE Online players have their own special acronym: ETC. This just means EVE Time Code and is identical in meaning to Game Time Code but is specific to EVE Online."
Alternate Uses
The term GTC, originally an acronym for Game Time Card or Game Time Code, now often simply refers to any one-use code for an online game. Some other uses include upgraded subscription cards, new account codes, and even codes you can redeem for in-game money. Many popular online games offer this great substitution for normal subscription methods; others, such as NCSoft, allow you to add this game time across all of their games you currently have an account for. Sony Online Entertainment offers game time cards that will work for any one of their online games, which allows you to easily find game time cards for even their lesser-known games.
EVE Online, developed by CCP Games, has innovated the Game Time Card world. By offering a secure transfer system for players to buy Eve Game Time Codes with the in-game currency ISK, they have built a system that allows players who cannot afford subscriptions to instead use the in-game currency to buy their game time from others who cannot afford to spend much time generating in-game currency.