Due to online retailer Amazon erroneously selling $49.99 of PLEX (30-day Pilot License EXtensions) for $4.98, there was a brief frenzy of sales on Saturday 27th October which could have threatened the stability of EVE’s player-run economy.
However, Community Developer Sveinn “CCP Guard” Kjarval, quickly addressed the issue on the forums:
“Hey everyone.
It appears that Amazon, who operate as a third party re-seller for some of our products, put the wrong price on a package of PLEX and then quickly pulled the offer once the error was discovered.
A few thousand extra PLEX are in circulation as a result which is not enough to cause any significant or lasting impact on the in-game markets.
There shouldn’t be any fallout but we’ll monitor the situation of course. If you or anyone you know has encountered any problems related to this incident, you are invited to file a support ticket.”
PLEX are sold by CCP and can be redeemed for a 30-day subscription or sold as an in-game item for ISK (EVE Online‘s currency, InterStellar Kredits), after which, the purchaser can then redeem the PLEX for game time. In this way, it is possible for cash-rich, time-poor players to fund their EVE Online activities, and for time-rich, cash-poor players to earn in-game currency to pay for their subscription.
In-game PLEX prices are currently extremely high (approximately 600m ISK).
