A Look At The Active ISK Delta In October 2024

With the end of October EVE Online says goodbye not only to another Crimson Harvest but to another expansion. Last month was the final month played under the rules and features of the Equinox expansion. And with not only the presence of EVE's most popular seasonal event but the vast migration of The Imperium to better living space, how did that affect the money supply in New Eden?

In the month of October, the Active ISK Delts -- the net effect of ISK coming and going into the game economy with player accounts, including GM actions -- was 55.0 trillion ISK. To put the figure into perspective, what was the biggest money sink in the game in September turned into EVE's biggest money faucet in October. Player net migration into the game accounted for a 2.5% increase in the money supply last month. Overall, the money supply grew by 5.9%.

Looking back at past Octobers, one can see that despite the Crimson Harvest event, the Active ISK Delta was usually negative, indicating money withdrawn from the economy due to accounts logging or not logging into the game. Last month's total of 55 trillion ISK was the first time the Active ISK Delta was positive in October since 2017. I believe The Imperium's wealth is well-known, but seeing evidence in a bar chart as inactive players log into the game to move their belongings drives home the fact. The average value of the Active ISK Delta from 2017 to 2023 was -23.5 trillion ISK or 78.5 trillion ISK less than the figure in October 2024. While I believe a good part of the change is due to the combination of the seasonal event combined with the new twice-a-year expansion model, much of the value did come from the final implementation of the Equinox sovereignty changes that resulted in The Imperium moving out of Delve for greener pastures.

But the movement of one of the largest coalitions in New Eden did not result in the largest monthly Active ISK Delta. Going back to the introduction of the Alpha/Omega business model, last month only saw the fifth largest movement of ISK into the game due to the net return of players. The top 5 months are:

• November 2023: 104.5 trillion ISK
• November 2022: 74.5 trillion ISK
• May 2023: 63.8 trillion ISK
• May 2019: 61.3 trillion ISK
• October 2024: 55.0 trillion ISK

Just a note about the Active ISK Delta. Going back to January 2017 the Active ISK Delta has only had a positive value 15 times, or 16% of the months. Six of those times occurred since the beginning of the Second Expansion Era with the launch of Uprising in November 2022. But I don't have any records of the Active ISK Delta having a positive value for two consecutive months. Will the launch of Revenant next week break the trend? I have the feeling both the developers in Reykjavik as well as our overlords in Anyang hope the answer is yes.