A charity auction in EVE Online has raised nearly $33,000 for Australian wildfire relief with the sale of a single ship for more than 1 million PLEX, a type of currency that can be traded for game time or other in-game benefits. The sale was arranged by an individual player pitching in to help developer CCP’s PLEX for Good campaign, which was launched in 2005 to raise relief funds following a tsunami and has since raised $470,000 for various causes.
Events in EVE Online have had real-world consequences before, though they haven’t always been as positive as raising funds for disaster relief. In 2019, a politician named Brian Schoeneman was accused of corruption by CCP for the actions of his in-game avatar, who was suspected of sharing confidential information he gained as part of a player-run council that works with the developer. While CCP eventually ruled that Schoeneman hadn’t done anything wrong, the allegation was especially serious given that he was a politician in real life. EVE has also been rife with political intrigue and corporate warfare that can lead to the seizure or destruction of in-game assets with real-world monetary value.
The recent $33,000 donation in EVE came about when a player with the in-game handle Kelon Darklight put up for auction a Gold Magnate - one of the rarest ships ever to appear in EVE Online - on the game’s forum. Within a day, EVE player and science YouTuber Scott Manley made an offer of 1 million PLEX, equivalent to roughly $32,500 if bought in the cheapest packages available from CCP. It’s believed to be the highest price ever paid for a single ship in EVE Online. The PLEX for Good campaign ended January 26, and CCP is expected to announce the total amount raised soon.
EVE Online isn’t the only game to help raise money for Australian wildfire relief. Destiny 2 developer Bungie is donating proceeds from limited edition t-shirts to the Australian Red Cross, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is selling a special Outback Relief DLC pack to raise money for wildfire relief efforts as well.
Video games have caught a lot of controversy recently for the amount of money some fans pour into them, whether it’s from predatory microtransactions or Star Citizen’s astronomically high development costs. It’s refreshing to see a game, especially one with a notoriously cutthroat community as EVE Online, pull its players together to do some clear good in the world.
Next: What's The Status of EVE Online's New Player Experience in 2019?
Eve Online is available now on PC, Mac, and Linux.
Source: Kelon Darklight/EVE Online Forum, Scott Manley/Twitter
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