Historic Drop In The Active ISK Delta In July 2023

I really need to get back to monitoring the monthly economic reports for EVE Online. I became discouraged due to the poor quality of some of the data, but one statistic I found reliable was the Active ISK Delta. The Active ISK Delta is the amount of in-game currency entering or leaving the game due to players either leaving or returning to New Eden. In July, the amount hit triple-digit trillions for the first time in my records going back to December 2017.

So much ISK left the game

Please capsuleers, remain calm. Such a drop does not mean everyone is leaving the game. As proof I present Jester's latest average concurrent users chart. The ACU shows the number of users logged in at any one time is still up around 12% over the same time last year.

No, July did not see a mass exodus of active players

So why the massive drop in the Active ISK Delta last month? I haven't heard of a massive ban wave, so cross that possibility off the list. People returning to the game to check out the Viridian expansion and then leaving is probably part of the reason. In November 2022 I fully credit the Uprising expansion for the 74.5 trillion ISK rise in the Active ISK Delta. The following month saw the Active ISK Delta fall to -63.6 trillion ISK. 

However, we didn't see a positive Active ISK Delta in June 2023 when Viridian launched. I credit that to the marketing campaign surrounding the 20th anniversary celebration and getting one's character name on the monument in Reykjavik. 

To have your character’s name engraved on the monumental expansion, make sure to have an active Omega account on 6 May 2023 (in any time zone), and your character with the highest amount of Skill Points will forever stand alongside the legends of New Eden. If you're already among those immortalized on the monument, your loyalty for also being an Omega pilot on 6 May 2023 will be additionally honored with a prestigious titan chevron icon on the monument.

Those who unsubscribed shortly after the 6 May deadline counted toward the -34.2 trillion Active ISK Delta in June, thus hiding another source of good statistical news for EVE in June. I have a feeling that those who stuck around to try out Viridian and then left contributed to last month's possible record Active ISK Delta. I will have to continue digging through the records to determine if any month surpassed last month's mark of -107.1 trillion ISK. But for now, I'll stand by the claim that a 6-year low for a 20 year old game is historic.