Winter Nexus Is Coming To EVE Online On December 9

Today I woke up to the news that CCP announced the dates for this year's Winter Nexus event. Running from 9 December to 12 January, EVE Online's annual winter event will run for 5 weeks. Like Final Fantasy XIV, EVE's developers will change the yearly seasonal events. This year, I thought I'd bring up some background information.

The events occur in systems containing Volatile Ice Storms as is tradition. The content is a little bit different.

Hunt Yoiul LADs (Logistical Automated Deliveries) and get Cryo Tech that allows access to even more within the storms, and don’t miss the Perseverance ice mining destroyer, currently only available through the Winter Nexus seasonal reward track.

The Yoiul LADs is an allusion to the real world group known as the Yule Lads.

The real Yule Lads

When looking at the arrival and departure dates of the Yule Lads, the event running for 5 weeks seems culturally appropriate, doesn't it?

This year InterBus is aiding the Yule Lads in their troublemaking in New Eden.

This year, InterBus is launching a cautionary campaign for travelers by dispatching Logistical Automated Delivery vessels (LADs) named after the legendary Yoiul Clones.

However, a whistleblower within Verity Enhancements, known only by the codename Yoiul Kattar, claims to have proof that the Yoiul LADs are not what they seem.

I need to interrupt CCP's narrative here because of the reference to Yoiul Kattar, aka the Yule Cat. Known as Jólakötturinn in Icelandic, the Yule Cat goes around the snowy countryside during Christmas time and eats people who have not received any new clothes to wear before Christmas Eve. So the developers better provide us some new clothing as a login reward before then.

Hunting down these automated vessels will give you Verity Cryo Tech that will unlock new challenges and rewards. For enforcers, this means access to more dangerous parts of the storms with stronger forces to fight. In highsec, marauders will need this Cryo Tech (specifically the Cryostorm Clarifier) to access combat sites. No such restrictions apply in lowsec or nullsec, however, depositing Cryo Tech will give access to more challenging and rewarding experiences in all Winter Nexus combat sites.

But the event doesn't just benefit combat pilots explorers and miners get some love as well.

Explorers can use the tech to gain access to relays normally scrambled by storm interference, which can then be hacked.

The tech will give miners additional recipes for mined ice, which will award enhanced salvage packages. Cryo Tech can be deposited in certain structures in and around the sites to unlock these extras.

So as players fly around New Eden this year they should keep their eyes out for trouble in snowy systems. Especially if they see a grump old man in a red suit.

EVE Online: Catalyst Patch Notes - Control Access For Freelance Jobs

I went to log into EVE Online this morning and noticed a new patch download. Two weeks after the launch of Catalyst came the first patch, concerning controlling access to freelance jobs. The news article describing the patch was pretty short.

The first update to Catalyst is here, bringing Access Control List restrictions to Freelance Jobs.

This allows project creators to decide who can and cannot see the listed job.

Want to blacklist your rival alliance? Done.

Want to make sure only members of a certain corporation see your posting? You got it.

Want to put out a hit on a rival capsuleer or corporation and make sure the target remains unaware? Mum’s the word.

A new Freelancing skill has also been added, allowing capsuleers to accept more than three Freelance Jobs at a time. Explore available Freelance Jobs via the AIR Opportunities interface.

At the same time, the costs associated with Freelance Jobs have been reduced. The duration fee is down by 25%, and the Broadcasting Fee is being cut by a third.

Basically a TL,DR for the patch notes. I was interested in the new skill, Freelancing, so I took a couple of extra minutes to gather some information.

I tried to find out what the market price is with no luck. Of course, I didn't have much time to search. Players can click on the blue "+" button to purchase the book remotely for 1.3 million ISK. I have the feeling that's how the skill will become available as the developers will want to place as few barriers to obtaining Freelancing as possible.

Below I'll include the full patch notes covering the updates to accessing freelance jobs. I have the feeling players interested in the feature will want to dig into the details.

Freelance Job Access Lists (ACLs)

Freelance Jobs now support Access Lists (ACLs), giving corporations and job creators the ability to define exactly who can view and accept the job postings. This update provides better control and privacy and a more tailored collaboration for corporations.

• ACLs allow visibility restrictions at three identity levels:
• Character – specific characters.
• Corporation – all members of selected corporations.
• Alliance – all members of corporations within selected alliances.

• Creating Jobs with ACL:
• You can select which ACL to use during job creation, and once assigned, a job’s ACL cannot be swapped, but the contents of the ACL may be edited at any time.
• Changes to ACL affect job visibility and participation but will not remove existing participants.
• If an ACL that’s attached to a freelance job is deleted, only the active participants of the job are able to contribute. No other capsuleers can accept the job.
• Blocked characters can’t see or access relevant job listings, even with a direct link.
• The job creator and corporation project managers always retain full access regardless of restrictions.

New Skill: Freelancing

• A new Freelancing skill has been introduced.
• Each level increases the number of concurrent Freelance Jobs a character can accept, up to maximum of 11.

Freelance Job Cost Adjusted

To make the job creation more sustainable, two cost reductions have been applied:

• Duration fee reduced by 25%.
• Broadcasting Fee reduced by 33%.

Freelance Job : Alliance Column in Participant view

A new Alliance column has been added to the Participant view for Freelance Jobs. Project managers will now be able to view and sort participants by alliance membership.

• Clicking the Alliance column header sorts the participants alphabetically by alliance name and clicking again reverses the order.
• If a participant does not belong to an alliance, a “-” symbol will be shown.

Cloud Imperium Records $31.9 Million In Cash Shop Revenue In November 2025

In November 2025 Cloud Imperium Games smashed records for revenue generated by its online cash shop. According to the CCU Game dashboard cash shop sales reached a record $31.9 million, a year-over-year increase of 57.7% over the $20.3 million generated in November 2024. The total was also 33.6% greater than the three-year average of $23.9 million. With one month to go in 2025 the CIG online cash shop has generated $140.4 million.

The $914.5 million displayed on the Roberts Space Industries funding page at the end of October was not a comprehensive accounting for all of CIG's revenue since the project's Kickstarter in October 2012. Overall, the company has recorded $1.039 billion in confirmed revenue (the funding page & the 2023 financial report).

• Sales/Pledges: $914.5 million (through 30 November 2025)
• Other cash shop revenue: $2.3 million (through 31 December 2023)
• Subscriptions: $39.5 million (through 31 December 2023)
• All other sources: $82.6 million (through 31 December 2023)

In addition, the company has received a total of $68.25 million in outside investment. According to the 2023 financial report, $4.8 million of the amount was returned to investors in 2020 and another $1.9 million in 2023. Including the outside investment money, the total amount raised by CIG to create Squadron 42 and Star Citizen is $1.107 billion, or $1.1 billion when excluding the returned funds. An additional $12.6 million in loans issued in March 2025 and due for repayment on 31 December 2027 are not included in the total.

Setting records - The $31.9 million in cash shop sales topped the previous single month revenue mark set back in May. The two months, powered by the Invictus and Intergalactic Aerospace Expo, resulted in $60.8 million in sales, or 43.3% of the total so far in 2025.

During November CIG also set a single year high, surpassing the $117.6 million generated in 2023. With one month to go, cash shop sales will go well beyond the $140.4 million recorded in the first 11 months of 2025.

A third record concerning a single sales was surpassed in November. This year's IAE so far has generated sales of $28.5 million. The previous IAE high of $24.5 million was set in 2023. This year's Invictus event generated sales of $24.2 million. The current IAE event still has three days to run.

New accounts - In November CIG recorded the second highest amount of new accounts in a single month in the company's history. Last month's 127,366 new accounts only trailed the 175,556 new accounts created in May 2022. So far in 2025 the number of new accounts created is up 42.7% year-over-year to 625,526. The record occurred in 2022 with 871,922 accounts created.

What to watch for - CIG should publish its 2024 financial statement to the corporate site near the end of December. Also, with the final three days of the IAE falling in December plus the upcoming Luminalia event held every year in mid-December should ensure the year's cash shop total should reach $150 million.