The Global PLEX Market Arriving On July 7

Today CCP took the unusual step of creating one giant market for the sale of PLEX in EVE Online. 

On 7 July, the global PLEX market launches, introducing a unified market region for PLEX accessible from (almost) anywhere in space. All PLEX trades will be pooled into one unified market, with purchases still delivered to your Vault. No friction, no travel, just pure liquidity...

Once the system launches on Tranquility, all existing PLEX orders will be cancelled and fees reimbursed. Location based tax and structure rules remain unchanged for now.

From following the information about the PLEX market published by the developer, one would think some things changed for the worse recently, of which the creation of a single global market is part of the solution to the issues.

PLEX plays a foundational role in this system. But over time, as discussed in a previous blog, its function has drifted. It’s increasingly treated as a long-term investment or speculative asset, rather than a flexible, fluid currency meant to empower player choice. That dynamic distorts pricing, limits access, and creates artificial scarcity that benefits a few at the expense of many. 

We’re committed to fixing that, without resorting to harsh measures like inventory taxes, price hikes, or product removals. Instead, we're focused on system-level changes that move us closer to a healthy, fair market equilibrium. [emphasis mine]

That claim of players only recently treating PLEX as a long-term investment or speculative asset is a recent phenomenon, followed by thinly veiled threats, just doesn't sit right with me. 

I could turn to some of the price indicies updates from 2011 to show such activity as existed since the creation of PLEX. In July 2011, the economic data team reported on speculative trading in PLEX in response to a dev blog. But perhaps my favorite report from the era came on the two year anniversary of the creation of PLEX for November 2011.

PLEX prices rise by 13% from October to November, having risen by 7.9% the month before.  At its peak on November 15, the daily average reached 498 million ISK, which is an all-time high.  The spike may have been driven by speculation, with the rising price convincing more and more people to keep their stock or add to it.  In the end, the Crucible expansion burst the bubble as many sought to fund their purchases of  newly introduced items through PLEX sales, thus significantly increasing PLEX supply.  This dropped the price by 10% from November 28 to December 1.

But perhaps the most meaty content on the subject is Dr. Eyjolfur "Eyjo" Gudmundsson's economy presentation at EVE Fanfest 2014. One of the first professional economists ever brought into a game studio specifically to manage and analyze a virtual economy, Dr. Eyjo worked at CCP Games from 2007 to 2014. As one of the creators of PLEX, I think his words might have extra weight.

Comments about PLEX ... in 2014

Now PLEX as a product has increased usage since 2008 when it was first introduced. And at times yes prices have increased and even we can say quite rapidly in 2013. But it is not a consumer good as I mentioned earlier. It is not a driver for inflation of other items. There's a completely different market going on. A completely different thinking going on the PLEX market than there is when people are buying stuff to consume. Stuff to get out there and getting destroyed. Well, I know there are some to take PLEX out and get destroyed but I have no way to know what they are thinking. But please keep doing it.

But the biggest way of getting rid of PLEX is actually just by putting it out as a subscription. So this has become as I have mentioned before one of the most important items and it is truly showing a behavior as gold does in real life. When people believe that there might be inflation they want to go and buy PLEX to kind of keep their value. If they take a break from the game they want to store their value in PLEXes because they have this direct connection to a US dollar value or a real life value.

While CCP now offers more than game time for PLEX, I was interested how PLEX has increased in value over the past 16 years.

Price increases before the implementation of a global market

I divided the past 16 years into four eras:

The Dr. Eyjo era (January 2009 to June 2014) - The period ran from 2 months after the introduction of PLEX to the retiring of the Nobel Exchange and creation of the New Eden Store. During this time Dr. Eyjo was able to oversee the PLEX market. The end of the period corresponds with Dr. Eyjo leaving CCP to become the rector of the University of Akureyri, where he stayed until last year. The average price of PLEX in The Forge increased an average of 1.2% per month.

The beginning of the New Eden Store (June 2017 to March 2017) - This period was noteworthy for the use of Aurum in the new cash stop along with the addition of new items and services. Skill extractors and injectors were introduced in February 2016 while  The average price of PLEX in The Forge increased an average of 1.9% per month.

The new PLEX era begins (March 2017 to October 2022) - In March 2017 CCP ended the use of Aurum as a virtual currency and divided existing PLEX into 500 slices. The period also witnessed a large decline in the player base. The average price of PLEX in The Forge returned to increasing an average of 1.2% per month.

The Second Expansion Era (October 2022 to July 2025) - The period begins the month before the Uprising expansion to the creation of the global PLEX market. While posting large absolute price increases, the average price of PLEX in The Forge only increased an average of 1.0% per month.

The first decreased velocity of PLEX in 2013

Another concern I've heard about the PLEX market today is the declining amount of PLEX available for purchase. But again, players have seen this situation before. Dr. Eyjo addressed the situation in his 2014 economy presentation.

Let's look at the per PLEX price development and you'll see once you take the 30,000 foot view that things were not really that crazy in 2013. This starts in the beginning of the year in January and throughout the year it is kind of between 5-6 hundred million ISK until we hit November and December, as we would expect around an expansion, Increased demand with a relatively fixed growing supply. But there is an interesting phenomenon going on on this graph. Do you spot it? And remember what I told you from the earlier slide. I told you sales of PLEX have been increasing throughout the lifetime of PLEX. 

[Answer from the audience]

Less on the market. Thank you. Where are you? I owe you a beer. There, this guy. Look at him. I owe this guy a beer.

Yes, there is something going on in the system in the way that people are not willing to put the PLEX just out there. In economic terms we would call it as a decreased velocity and if you read the numbers from the right this is the in-game trade. There are 140-160 thousand PLEXes traded on the market per month. The velocity is greater than one meaning that each PLEX gets traded more often than one so this is not the total sales of PLEX during a month. It's the in-game trade. And as usage were increasing people were just putting less and less on the market.

[Question from the audience]

Is that the fact and I'll pick up on this question because I'm sure that that question is on Twitter. We have added services for PLEX so people may have the perception that's good to have a PLEX if they wanted to buy that service. But vast majority of PLEXes are used for subscription still. So it might be a marginal driver but it is not the biggest driver at this point in time. 

With the introduction of the Paragon Hub and the SKINNR system in the Equinox expansion in June 2024 a lot more services were added players could pay for with PLEX. Or as the dev blog stated:

Over the past few years, we’ve steadily added more products to the NES and the Paragon Hub. That means more ways to use PLEX which is good but it also puts more pressure on the supply side of the equation, like we are seeing now with it being one of the lowest the market has ever seen. At the same time, PLEX has developed a kind of stock-market appeal, especially among veteran players who see it as an asset to hoard or flip. The result? A large, ever growing, slow-moving float of PLEX held in wallets across New Eden, leading to less liquidity on the market. 

This limited availability especially during rare sales or high-activity events creates volatility and drives up the ISK price of PLEX. That volatility can destabilize the broader player economy, contributing to inflation and making the climb steeper for new and returning players who rely on PLEX to access Omega or other NES items. 

Over the weekend I've done a lot of research and thinking about the changes the global PLEX market foretells. I'm still not sure how I should feel about the changes. Not because a global market would make my live easier. But if things don't work out, will CCP look to take all the PLEX on my accounts away from me?