CCP: Outlawing in-game gambling protects the EVE Online experience

“Our job is to create an environment where people can have amazing experiences and tell interesting stories and if that environment is broken somehow or is at risk for some reason, we step in and fix it.”

- EVE Online executive producer Andie Norgren details CCP’s decision to crack down on in-game gambling to Polygon.

CCP took official action against gambling operations that used EVE Online assets as currency last month, resulting in the closure of two major gambling rings: EVE Casino and IWANTISK. Today, changes to the game’s End User License Agreement (EULA) go into effect to combat the negative effects operations like this have on the overall EVE Online experience.

Executive producer Andie Norgren explained that shutting down gambling sites that redistribute in-game wealth outside of established systems isn’t just about legal enforcement; it’s just as much about protecting the health of EVE Online. 

“If it's meaningless for somebody else to fight a battle in EVE because there's someone out there who has unassailable wealth then that becomes a problem for the whole game,” Nordgren told Polygon. “If it's not meaningful to fight over the resources inside the game, where we have designed control and can balance that to be a fun experience, then it causes design problems.”

EVE Online will be moving away from monthly subscriptions to become a free-to-play game soon, and the new policy is one of many EULA changes made to prepare for that switch. The new agreement introduces a zero tolerance policy when it comes to the transfer, sale or auction of in-game goods. The updated agreement specifically states that game assets cannot be used for any games of chance, and makes doing so a bannable offense.