EVE Online, the famous space MMO, just broke a record with the most expensive space battle in video game history. He’s got a Guinness Record and everything. “The Massacre at M2-XFA” has cost two of the biggest factions in EVE Online an estimated price of $ 378,012. It was part of an ongoing war that cost about $ 700,000 in total.
On December 31, 2020, 5000 players from the Imperium and PAPI factions collided in the M2-XFE region near a “Keepstar” (a large space station) when PAPI forces began to open fire on Imperium ships that were in the shipyard. That same day, an Imperium pilot managed to disable a “cyno jammer”, allowing reinforcements to enter.
The battle lasted about 14 hours, and both factions lost flagships, the supercapitals (the larger ones, each like the Empire State Building more or less) in a similar amount on both sides. The fight ended because EVE went offline for maintenance.
Of the 1,304 Titan ships that participated in the battle, about 257 were destroyed. PAPI’s forces lost about 130 Titans and Imperium 122. Among all ship classes, PAPI lost 1,810 and Imperium 1,596.
“This battle is a bit like a game of poker where both players had been gathering weapons for years, and they got away with it,” said PAPI member Gobbins. “One side started by escalating the battle with the maximum of its resources and the other responded in full, not only in terms of strength, but in value of the resources used. This is rare in EVE: watching ships fall and resources that had been gathered over the years by many players. However, this strange situation occurred, causing the biggest battle we have seen, both in number of players involved and in ships destroyed. It was impressive. “
To commemorate the event (and associated damage), an official memorial will be erected with the names of all the players involved in the battle. The developer CCP is in charge.
Total dollar damage is calculated based on the in-game money (called PLEX) it costs to replace each ship. Many of them are the result of hundreds of hours of work and search for resources. The most expensive ship to have been destroyed during the battle was Grencia Mars’ Vanquisher, with an estimated cost of $ 5,500.
Despite the (digital) slaughter, this M2-XFE battle is just one of those taking place in the ongoing war in EVE Online: “World War Bee 2”.
