PLEX is always a hot button issue.  It is the conduit by which some can gain ISK for real world money while others can pay for their subscription using in game ISK.  500 PLEX will get you 30 days of game time.  But it has been controversial since it arrived back in 2009.

PLEX started as just a game time item, but was broken down so that 1 old PLEX became 500 new PLEX when CCP decided to just have a single in game RMT currency.  But the fact that PLEX could be used for game time or skill extractors or multiple character training time or SKINs or a host of other things in the in-game store has put pressure on the price, as has the usual ongoing inflation that is normal in any online game.

PLEX market – Apr 2024 through Apr 2025

And CCP hasn’t been as deft as one might hope.  Players get anxious and upset when the PLEX price keeps climbing.  That might be good for those selling PLEX, but it makes those buying to subscribe angry.  The fact that players buy PLEX as a long term investment, the price having risen better than the S&P 500 these last 15 years, even accounting for the 2008 financial crisis, means that players buy it to hold as a buffer against ISK inflation.

And then CCP does things that spike the price and everybody loses their heads.

That event got people angry because PLEX went over 6 million ISK per.  It dropped down again, but has continued to climb over time with the current price in Jita sitting stable over 6 million ISK once more.

Into that, CCP has launched some new items in the store, the mastery packs they told us about back in February, which has people once again grinding their teeth over what that will do to the price of PLEX.

CCP is not oblivious to this concern and as part of the mastery pack launch announcement they included a whole section on the PLEX situation.

The State of PLEX

Let’s talk PLEX – the primary currency of the NES, the backbone of player-driven trading, and, for many, a long-term investment vehicle. It’s no secret that PLEX plays multiple roles in EVE, and right now, those roles are colliding in ways that we believe deserve both attention and action.

Over the past few years, we’ve steadily added more products to the NES and the Paragon Hub. That means more ways to use PLEX which is good but it also puts more pressure on the supply side of the equation, like we are seeing now with it being one of the lowest the market has ever seen. At the same time, PLEX has developed a kind of stock-market appeal, especially among veteran players who see it as an asset to hoard or flip. The result? A large, ever growing, slow-moving float of PLEX held in wallets across New Eden, leading to less liquidity on the market.

This limited availability especially during rare sales or high-activity events creates volatility and drives up the ISK price of PLEX. That volatility can destabilize the broader player economy, contributing to inflation and making the climb steeper for new and returning players who rely on PLEX to access Omega or other NES items.

We know this isn’t sustainable, and we’re actively working to ease the pressure.

Here’s what we’ve done so far:

• AIR Daily Goals now include PLEX as a permanent reward, creating a steady stream of accessible PLEX for active players.
• Seasonal events increasingly feature PLEX in their seasonal reward tracks.
• Occasional PLEX gifts mark special milestones and in-game events.
• Mysterious GalNet Crates I and II, featured in Twitch Drops and tradeable on the in-game market, also offer a chance at PLEX.

These steps help, but we know they’re not enough.

We’re exploring additional tools and mechanics that can rebalance the flow of PLEX, making it feel less like a speculative asset and more like a practical, fluid currency that powers your in-game choices.

We’ll be sharing more soon, but in the meantime, we want to hear from you. What do you think the future of PLEX should look like? Join the conversation on Discord, the forums, or wherever you fly.

So what comes next?

Whatever changes we make, they’ll aim to open doors for new pilots, close loopholes for RMTers, and shake loose some of the unhealthy speculation that’s built up around PLEX over time.

Because in EVE, it’s not the richest who survive, it’s the smartest. Knowledge and experience still wins fights, wins wars, and builds empires. That’s the balance we’re protecting.

So CCP sees the problem and have made some small adjustments to inject a bit more PLEX into the game.  They’ve also tightened up on ISK, nerfing null sec ratting with one hand while buffing null sec mining with the other, all while boosting the sales tax in NPC stations to try and make PLEX a bit more dear.

But the march upward for the PLEX prices seems to carry on unabated, as the chart above shows.

Of course, everybody has a pet idea of how to “fix” the problem.  The Reddit thread is a veritable panorama of crackpot PLEX economic theories.  So we’ll have to see how CCP carries on.

Ideally the price of PLEX should be naturally balancing; if it goes to high demand should drop and if it goes to low supply should dry up, modulating the price.  In reality, CCP has in the past, and will no doubt again in the future, dropped bombs that have blown up the market in both the short and long term.

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