EVE Online: The Worlds of Wealth and War

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Hooper Brenton
2020 DiGRA ’20 – Proceedings of the 2020 DiGRA International Conference: Play Everywhere

This article explores the distribution of player owned wealth in EVE Online. I apply standardized methods such as the Gini Coefficient, a statistical dispersion intended to represent the wealth distribution of a nation’s residents, to explore EVE Online’s wealth distribution. I also explore the relationship between a players’ time in game, and their wealth. Using these methods, I find that EVE Online’s wealth is highly concentrated, more so than the real-world economy. Additionally, I cast doubt on EVE Online having a first-mover advantage. Those players who started first have not gained a lasting competitive advantage by gaining control of resources. Instead, wealth is strongly correlated with a player’s time in game.