CCP suspends Eve player after ‘suicide mocking’

CCP has suspended an elected representative of the Eve Online community, following an internal review into allegations that he publicly mocked a player showing signs of depression.

Alex Gianturco, aka ‘The Mittani’, will be blocked from playing the game for thirty days.

He has separately announced his intent to resign as one of the ‘Council of Stellar Management’ – a publicly elected Eve Online player congress – and has forfeited his right to reapply for his seat after the existing council is dissolved.

Last week, speaking on stage at an Eve Online panel discussion, Gianturco (pictured) drunkenly revealed the name of what is believed to be a depressed player, and suggested other players attack his in-game character as way of encouraging suicide.

He has since apologised for his actions. He said he was “absolutely ashamed” to have made the comments.

CCP, just months away from launching its upcoming PS3 game, promptly launched an internal investigation into the matter.

“Following a thorough internal review, CCP has decided to respond to this clear violation of our Terms of Service,” the company said.

The actions were a “wholly inappropriate” use of the Eve online panel, CCP added.

“According to our existing policies, we have issued a 30 day ban from EVE Online to the panel speaker. The policy of CCP is not to publicly discuss warnings and bans on an individual basis. This situation is entirely unique because the panel was displayed via CCP’s Fanfest video stream component, a platform analogous to our forums.

“As a result we have published this statement due to the special circumstances involved.”