Economic crisis a benefit to MMOs

Speaking to Develop, EVE online’s in-game economist Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson has detailed the positive impact of the economic downturn on the MMO.

Guðmundsson discussed the relation between real-world finance and in-game economies in today’s interview, which marks the final part of Develop’s two day focus on EVE Online.

Talking about the economic crisis, Guðmundsson said: "It is only affecting us in a positive way in the sense that we are seeing our subscriptions rise and a concurrent increase in activity.

"Increased activity always leads to interesting events in EVE because it is all about the players. EVE would be nothing if it didn’t have such an awesome subscriber base of very smart people trying to outsmart each other. It is an awesome, awesome thing to observe. So I would say that the connection between the current crisis and EVE Online is positive for EVE."

Speaking about more general correlation between virtual and real monetary systems, Guðmundsson added: "There are some distinct parallel challenges existing in EVE Online and the ‘real world’ economy."

To read the full interview click here.