The complaints about EVE Online’s recent monetization moves are not going away despite CCP Games’ best efforts to keep its head down. Some streamers of the game are taking part in what’s being called the EVE Blackout, broadcasting an image warning players that the game will “attempt to monetize your gameplay” and that players “do not need to swipe a credit card for a spaceship,” all while linking back to a website dedicated to the digital protest.
The page in question references not only the mining barge sale item but also previous unpopular monetization practices such as Skill Point packs. The page also warns against the game’s ongoing slide into further monetization and provides some resources for new players to utilize instead of buying boosts or ships.
“For the past few years, CCP Games has systematically dismantled key mechanics relating to EVE Online’s economy. […] To CCP, please see reason. Understand the impact of things like this and the ripples it sends throughout the EVE universe. Know that we don’t come to you out of hatred or malice, but out of respect and love for the world you’ve created for us.”
This attempt at a media blackout doesn’t appear to have too much backing at the time of this writing: A quick check of the EVE Online category on Twitch sees only a few streamers joining in this blackout, but one of them does include the New Eden Post. Incidentally, CCP’s own Twitch channel was reportedly automatically sharing the Post’s stream and inadvertently advertising the blackout.
CCP Games, meanwhile, appears to be doubling down on the mining barge bundle, offering it at a limited-time discount to new players who begin the recently revamped mining career agent tutorial. It’s otherwise business as usual as the devs have once more shared the monthly economic report.
