Player Offers $40,000 for Rare Spaceship in EVE Online
A charity auction in the mmorpg EVE Online has yielded a bid of $40,000. The object is a rare spaceship of which only two exist in the game world. The money will go to the Australian Red Cross.
The auction is being held as part of game developer CCP’s fundraiser Plex For Good, with the money going to the Australian Red Cross. This organization provides humanitarian aid in the areas affected by the recent forest fires. Players can purchase the in-game currency Plex with real money or the existing in-game currency ISK and the game maker will convert the Plex back into real dollars for the Red Cross.
It’s up to the players themselves to set up actions around the studio’s Plex system. One of those actions is the auction of an extremely rare spaceship, of which only two remain, according to Kotaku. Three other copies have been destroyed. A YouTuber who played EVE Online in the past saw the auction and decided to place a bid on it, for a million Plex. That is converted to 3.5 trillion ISK and therefore about 40,000 dollars. The minimum amount was $13,000. Sources at developer CCP have confirmed to Kotaku that the YouTuber, Scott Manley, actually has the money in his EVE bank account. The offer has not yet been accepted.
According to Kotaku, the ship is the Gold Magnate. The current owner got it after winning a pvp tournament with his team. In that tournament, his team fought for the right of an NPC faction to claim the empty throne of the Amarr Empire. This actually had an effect on the story of the game.
EVE Online is a massively multiplayer online RPG. It takes place in space and everyone is in the same game world, which consists of 7800 galaxies. Players can mine resources, piracy, trade, explore and more in the world. A system of races and corporations is the political framework. Since the currency ISK is linked to real money, the cost of in-game items can be estimated at a certain value. For example, about 7,000 euros was damaged in a major space skirmish in 2018.