EVE Online prices are going up

The cost of doing business in EVE Online is going up. CCP Games announced today that in order to support the game's continued growth, the price of both Omega subscriptions and Plex will be going up in May.

"This adjustment reflects global trends impacting general production costs and accounts for years of inflation, amending the 1-month USD subscription rate for the first time since 2004," CCP said. "These adjustments will have an impact on other [non-US] currencies."

Currently, a one-month Omega subscription, which offers access to EVE's full lineup of ships, more gameplay features, and unlimited skill training with double training speed, sells for $14.95; three months is $38.85, six months is $71.710, and 12 months is $131.40. Starting May 17, pricing will change to:

• One month - $19.99
• Two months - $35.98
• Three months - $47.98
• Six months - $86.95
• 12 months - $149.90
• 24 months - $270.00

The pricing for Plex, an item that can be traded for EVE's ISK currency or used to purchase Omega game time, is being completely restructured. Currently, it can be purchased in bundles priced from $4.99 (110 Plex) to $499.99 (15,400 Plex); following the adjustment, the price structure will be as follows:

• 50 Plex - $2.49
• 100 Plex - $4.99
• 250 Plex - $12.49
• 500 Plex - $24.99
• 1,000 Plex - $44.99
• 1,500 Plex - $64.99
• 3,000 Plex - $124.99
• 6,000 Plex - $239.99
• 12,000 Plex - $419.99
• 20,000 Plex - $649.99

It's a fairly substantial price hike, but not entirely unreasonable if it's the first such increase in nearly 20 years. Nonetheless, reaction to the announcement was, to put it mildly, negative: Responses on Twitter, Reddit, and the EVE forums predict (and threaten) large-scale account cancellations and refunds on tickets to Fanfest, which is returning in May after two years away; a couple invoked the "Summer of Rage," a 2011 player protest over what was widely perceived to be massive missteps in direction by CCP.

One major point of complaint is that while CCP said the new prices on Omega subscriptions "include all upcoming content releases for the game," and that the studio is "committed to bringing you the absolute best version of EVE, and a compelling future for New Eden," it said nothing about what the future actually includes.

"The smart play would have been to either announce it for six months from now to give players time to see if new content comes out and if it’s worth paying the increase," Pirate Aussie wrote. "Alternatively, another smart play (though likely not something the playerbase would be overly fond of them doing) would be to wait until after Fanfest, allow the players to digest whatever CCP throws at them, gauge reactions and then make a decision there. Instead, they did this, giving people 25 calendar days to consider it."

One current member of the Council of Stellar Management, a player advocacy group "elected by the players to advise and assist CCP in the continuous development of EVE Online," said the group pushed back against the idea when it was informed a few weeks ago, to no avail. "It was made clear that this was happening no matter how hard we fought it," redditor deltaxi65 wrote.

Ahead of the price hike, CCP is running a weekend sale on one-month Omega subscriptions. The reaction to that, coming so closely on the heels of the price increase announcement, is about what you'd expect.