Crimson Harvest 2025 Beginning On 6 October

Yesterday CCP announced that this year's iteration of Crimson Harvest in EVE Online will run from 6 October to 4 November. The seasonal event first ran in 2015. As usually happens the developers make some changes to prevent the content from going stale. I thought I'm run through the announcement for some key things I look when running EVE's oldest seasonal event.

Difficulty and Ships - What ships are needed to run the event sites? I'm at a point where I don't like flying the bigger ships anymore. Frigates and sometimes cruisers is more my speed nowadays. The announcement was nice enough to remove that uncertainty. Here is a quick breakdown of the sites and ship requirements.

Easy - Limited to high sec and allows Tech 1 frigates.

Medium - found in all space, limited to Tech II frigates and Tech 1 destroyers.

Hard - found in low sec, null sec, and wormholes, these sites allow Tech III tactical destroyers and below. In a change from last year the hard sites are no longer limited to Blood Raider regions.

New sites - Things never change in New Eden, do they? The new sites this year are associated with the Upwell Consortium. Unlike the old Jove who originally brought new technology to the game, Upwell screws up a lot.

New Biocybernetic Incident sites appear across highsec, lowsec, nullsec, and wormhole space as Upwell clone research goes awry. They were designed as labs, but now they are tombs. 

In an attempt to mitigate a somewhat messy situation for them, Upwell has blocked its own EDENCOM ships from entering these sites. 

The sites also have environmental factors to consider.

Stay within a designated area for a set duration, fight off enemy waves, and try to blast rogue shuttles loaded with valuable cargo. Be careful, as there are unstable generators in the sites which can be destroyed, causing damage to all close by. Make sure to keep your distance, but keep in mind you can use them strategically.

Returning sites - The sites are not just limited to small ships. Blood Raider and Tetrimon combat sites are returning. Last year the sites allowed cruisers, battlecruiser and battleships to enter and I assume the same will be true this year. Different this year is that the Crimson Gauntlet and Tetrimon Base sites may also trigger escalations which may prove another incentive to run the content.

A couple of other things to note about these sites.

Tetrimon Frontline Base and Dark Blood Gauntlet sites will also return and appear exclusively in Blood Raider space in lowsec and Delve. 

There are chance encounters within returning combat sites that may link directly to the Upwell horror unfolding across space, and they are more likely within wormholes. These encounters increase the rewards to be had from a site, so keep an eye out for any suspicious wrecks. 

Rewards tracks - Last but not least are the rewards tracks. 

The harvest is a time for reaping, and great rewards are to be expected as usual. Log in daily to claim a massive cache of Skill Points, boosters, new Deathglow Remnant SKINs, and more. Omega capsuleers earn rewards on both Alpha and Omega tracks. 

Complete seasonal challenges to unlock even more, including SKINR components and after the event enters the final week, a final crate with a rare Blood Raider blueprint. 

That's right, rewards that only unlock during the final week of the event.

In the final week of the Harvest, the horrors will intensify and the seasonal reward track will be extended to include a final reward crate containing a Blood Raider ship blueprint. More surprises will be announced as well, so keep your eyes on the unfolding bloodshed.

I think CCP is looking to keep players engaged enough with Crimson Harvest to stick around to try out the winter expansion. Players already do that, but I think CCP is looking for some higher player counts. Either that or the accountants are looking for higher Daily Active User numbers and don't want to let players completely finish the content early.

No FOMO With The Final Fantasy XIV x Monster Hunter Wild Crossover Event

Normally when Square Enix announces a crossover event I start clearing time off my calendar to run the event. While crossover events do come back, players who miss the event usually have to wait a couple of years to get another chance. One exception were the alliance raids in Shadowbringers. The YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse storyline has a Nier: Automata theme. And so, apparently, is the upcoming FFXIV x Monster Hunter Wild crossover event coming to FFXIV next Tuesday.

Not a limited time duty

I know practically nothing about Monster Hunter Wild but apparently Yoshi-P is sending one of our big bad bosses, Omega, for the hunters in that game to battle. In return, we get a fearsome boss to battle as well.

The Windward Wilds

A mysterious mark bill finds its way into your hands, sparking a hunt for otherworldy prey. Alongside your Felyne client and dependable Seikret steed, you soon discover your target is none other than the dread Guardian Arkveld, bane of hunters.

With a hearty meal of grilled meat, and a generous supply of mega potions in hand, the hunt for the White Wraith is on!

The trail comes in a regular version requiring item level gear of 725 and an extreme version requiring level 740 gear. Those who have completed The Ageless Necropolis (and thus the complete Dawntrail MSQ) in patch 7.3 will meet the equipment requirements. Those who have just completed the final quest of Dawntrail (patch 7.0) may need to upgrade their equipment first.

I'm glad I don't have to rush because 7 October is the launch of patch 7.35. While I don't like deep dungeons like the new Pilgrim's Traverse, I plan on jumping on the new allied society quests featuring the Yok Huy. And, of course, the new chapter of the Inconceivably Further Hildibrand Adventures is available as well. So I can take my time getting around to the crossover event.

Crimson Desert Set To Launch March 29

Finally, a post about Crimson Desert not due to a Pearl Abyss earnings call. The single-player RPG announced by Pearl Abyss back in 2019 announced a launch date of 19 March 2026 on both Steam and Playstation.

The Steam announcement for Crimson Desert

One has to wonder if the South Korean game studio succumbed to investor pressure to announce the launch of the game. Back on the Pearl Abyss Q2 2025 earnings call held on 13 August investment analysts signaled their distrust of the company's pronouncements about the game due to the CEO telling those on the call that Crimson Desert would not launch in 2025. An hour after the end of the call the stock price fell by over 20%.

The release date does avoid the launch window of the most anticipated game of 2026, Grand Theft Auto VI. Despite rumors the release date officially is set for 26 May 2026. Crimson Desert should have two months before the gaming world goes crazy over GTA VI.

Pearl Abyss stock up 5.3% after the release date was announced

The Korean NASDAQ took the news favorably with share prices increasing by 5.3% in trading on Thursday. I have two questions. First, how much trust did Pearl Abyss burn with investors with the way the company strung them along over the past few years? Second, despite all the delays, is Pearl Abyss rushing to release Crimson Desert to save face with investors?

EVE Frontier: A Favorable Bug And Solo Fueling My Base

This morning I decided to log into EVE Frontier and do a little mining. One can never have enough fuel so I thought I'd go ahead and get some in a short play session. I saw patch notes and a new build were deployed so I went ahead and read them. 

Patch Notes for 2025-09-24

Features & Changes:

• Significantly reduced the build cost of the Chumaq and Smart Gate to promote gatebuilding.

Defect Fixes:

• Removed a Flegel used during the Hackathon that was causing issues with the buildable ships mission.

I bring up the patch notes because I think the fix for one thing broke another. When I went to the mission page to check how many people were ahead of me, I saw an unexpected gain of 300 Grace. I was credited with completing the mission to manufacture one of each module. Kind of hard to do that when I just started gathering materials to build a Printer M, a requirement for completing the module mission. So I dutifully submitted the bug to the Discord server.

Why did I submit a bug that benefitted me? I'm playing the game a bit differently that others. I use my position on the Grace list to see how many people are playing the game. As of Sunday over 2000 players had joined the Discord server, finished the tutorial, and set up a network node. With the Grace bug I moved up to 1824th place. I'll move up the rankings a little more as within the next week I'll receive another 200 Grace for logging in 10 times this development cycle.

The UI controlling my base

But the original purpose for writing this post wasn't to point out a bug in a system that won't make it to the release version of the game. I want to know how much of an issue a lone player will have keeping a base up and running. The answer is, not much if combat isn't a threat. If I spend 10-15 minutes or so mining carbon ore every play session I can build up a reserve of cheap D1 fuel. Enough to both fuel my ship as well as run my base. With the cheap fuel I can keep the base running for over 2 weeks. I even have enough fuel to completely refuel my ship.

Also going back to the bug, I need to make a Printer M so I can start cranking out modules. Over the past few days I build a small shipyard and a second portable storage unit. I use the portable storage units when interacting with my refinery or printers and the smart storage unit for long term storage. I now have one portable storage unit set up to only deal with fuel.

With the immediate grind in Final Fantasy XIV out of the way I can spend a little more time building my base in Frontier. Hopefully before Cycle 2 ends I can build and equip a new ship, preferably two. I do want to have enough playtime in the game to write an end-of-cycle review of my time in the game, as boring as my activities are in Frontier.

Why Argos Is Still My Favorite Mount In Final Fantasy XIV

Over the weekend I ground out the remaining 32 Phaenna Token Booklets needed to buy the Cosmoboard from the second phase of Final Fantasy XIV's Cosmic Exploration content. The mount feels so good to ride around Phaenna. But once I took the Cosmoboard to a normal zone and flew around something just felt off. That's right, I returned to riding Argos, the mount received for completing the Endwalker expansion.

Now, I have to admit I like the idea of a catgirl riding around the game on a golden retriever. But I think the lore has something to do with the choice. Argos was an NPC before becoming a mount.

Argos is Venat's faithful canine companion—a familiar who once accompanied the ancient throughout the world unsundered. When Venat was reborn as Hydaelyn, She summoned Argos to the moon that he might ferry travelers across the cavernous craters on the satellite's surface. It should be noted, however, that Argos only bears individuals he deems worthy of his trust.

Curiously, there have been sightings of a similar canine on Etheirys in recent days, carrying an adventurer on its back.

Venat is the NPC we befriend in Endwalker who winds up becoming Hydaelyn, one of the two gods/primals giving their names to the Hydaelyn/Zodiark saga.

"No more shall man have wings to bear him to paradise. Henceforth, be shall walk."

Originally a scholar of Anyder, Venat held a particular interest in the lives and histories of Etheirys's people. While some academics would be satisfied with the wisdom of tomes alone, Venat's fascination spurred her to venture into the wider world with her beloved familiar, Argos—to hear the star's voice, feel its very breath, and to think of what endless secrets remained undiscovered. Venat's accomplishments were recognized by the Convocation of Fourteen, and she was subsequently granted the seat of Azem. In this capacity, she wandered the star that she might provide succor to those in need.

Even after she found a suitable successor to take up the Traveler's mantle, Venat chose to continue her unending journey, and in the course of it encountered an adventurer from the far future who warned of the Final Days to come. Alas, she was the only ancient who would retain the knowledge of her people's inevitable demise. That one day life might prevail, she sacrificed herself to become the very embodiment of the star's will.

After millennia watching over the sundered Source, Venat—now Hydaelyn—took up arms one final time to take the measure of those who would answer Her question. Her defeat gave Her hope that life would go on, and She died with a smile on Her face and love in Her heart.

That's right, the Warrior of Light kills both Zodiark and Hydaelyn. I know that killing gods is a anime thing to do, but damn did it hurt. So does our link to Venat, a former Azem. Because guess who also is Azem? That's right, the Warrior of Light.

Azem was the title held by the Fourteenth member of the Convocation of Fourteen, a governing body of the Amaurotine society on Etheirys. The title was associated with the sun, rather than a constellation like the other seats, and denoted the role of the Traveler: one who roamed the world helping people directly and serving as a liaison between the Convocation and everyday citizens...

The holder of the Azem title was expected to remain active in the world, addressing problems firsthand and building relationships with those who lived outside the seat of power in Amaurot. Azem was known for their independence, eccentricity, and tendency to act without seeking approval, which often led to censure from the rest of the Convocation. Despite this, Azem's actions were generally driven by a deep compassion for others and a desire to do what was right, regardless of convention.

Venat was not the final Azem in the story. The wiki described the final Azem this way:

The Azem that would later reincarnate as the Warrior of Light (or player character) was known for being fiercely independent and deeply tied to both Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus. This Azem was widely traveled, often worked without bureaucratic oversight, and is said to have created a powerful summoning spell capable of calling allies across dimensions: an in-game explanation of the Duty Finder system.

They were responsible, or alleged to be responsible, for numerous feats, including:

• Creating various mounts to ease travel.
• Saving a village threatened by a volcano by turning fire aether into Ifrita, and then fighting it.

This Azem was opposed to summoning Zodiark and defected; as the seat was vacant and the Convocation deemed Azem unworthy of commemoration, no crystal to preserve their memories was officially created. However, Emet-Selch created such a crystal in secret and preserved Azem's summoning spell within it.

And while Emet-Selch comes off as the ultimate villian, I do want to follow his advice to explore the rest of the world.

Tell me, have you been to the ruins beneath the waters of the Bounty? Or the treasure islands beyond the frozen waters of Blindfrost, in Othard's north? The fabled golden cities of the New World? The sacred sites of the forgotten peoples of South Sea Isles? What about Meracydia, the southern continent? Do you know aught of its present state of affairs? I thought not. Even of your little Eorzea, you know precious little. The true identities of the Twelve, for instance. All of which is to say: expand your horizons. Go forth and seek discovery. Some of the civilizations in the reflections will surprise you. As the bearer of Azem's crystal, you may consider it duty to see at least that much. I certainly did.

At the end of Endwalker, my only real tie back to the game's first epic story arc is Venat's familiar Argos. The mount is a reminder back to a time of an epic tale I played through, taking hundreds if not thousands of hours. A time I loved that might be the best gaming experience I've ever had.

Cliffnotes Version Of EVE Online's Dev Talk - 22 September 2025

I woke up this morning to a new video dev blog for EVE Online. I watched to the end and found the content interesting. But CCP Okami did tell a really bad dad joke. So for those wishing to avoid the bad humor I put together a summary of the video based on a review by Copilot. For those not afraid of CCP Okami's humor I've included the video below.

1. Formalizing Updates vs. Expansions  

• Expansions deliver major new features (ships, systems, game modes) on a long-lead, fixed schedule.  
• Major Updates are now a biannual, six-month rhythm focused on balance sweeps, ecosystem tuning, and quality-of-life “hygiene” rather than new content.  
• Patches handle urgent, targeted fixes between those bigger drops.

2. Three-Year Thematic Strategy  

• EVE’s dev roadmap is organized into multi-expansion arcs.  
• The next cycle kicks off under the Gold Rush banner (frontier-style, high-risk resource grabs) and will be followed by a “War Engines” phase.  
• Themes guide everything from corporate OKRs down to individual feature sprints.

3. EVE ↔ Vanguard Integration (Operation Nemesis)  

• Vanguard actions now feed directly into EVE’s insurgency mechanics, spawning convoys and dynamic events.  
• First iteration is deliberately light; CCP plans to deepen asynchronous links (e.g., player affiliations, localized incursions) once the baseline is stable.  

4. Community Feedback & Balancing  

• Ship-balance threads show broadly positive reception to large-batch tuning.  
• Future updates may skew economy-heavy in spring and ship-meta-heavy in fall, but CCP remains flexible.  
• UI asks (2D map, Neocom colors) are fully approved but “delivery is soon™.”

5. Narrative & Events  

• Big Lore drops (Drifter Crisis, Fractured Empires) remain layered across expansions, though they’re not always front-and-center.  
• Recurring faction-days and holiday events are deprioritized in favor of systemic health, but may return with more sustainable formats.  

I do want to add a couple of comments. First, the talk about economic content in the spring and ships in the winter was about the major updates, not the expansions. The expansions as we know them are not changing.

The themes are not expansion names. But I got the impression we'll hear about the themes in each expansion for the next 6 years. I also received the impression we are near the end of the Gold Rush arch.

About Vanguard. Perhaps my memory is faulty, but I seem to remember the game being described as a extraction shooter. In the dev blog CCP Rattati and CCP Okami backed away from that description.

Finally about the events. Remember the four empire events that were added as a marketing device a few years back? Sounds like those might go away.

Final Fantasy XIV Cosmic Exploration On Phaenna - All Stellar Tools Acquired

I went a little crazy crafting in Cosmic Exploration on Phaenna this weekend. On the positive side, I acquired the last of the 11 Stellar crafting and gathering tools on Tuesday. For me, getting all my tools leveled from Cosmic to Stellar two weeks after the launch of Final Fantasy XIV's patch 7.31 was lightning fast.

All tools research to intermediate level 5

Now to go over the details. The leveling process goes faster for the final 6 tools due to the research bonus for reaching level 5 for other tools. The bonus is:

• 1-2 tools - 50%
• 3-4 tools - 100%
• 5+  tools - 150%

Order: I think I found an order to level my tools. First, I start out with botany followed by mining. I think those two gathering sets of missions are the easiest so I do those to get the 50% bonus for the first crafting tool. Next, I work on the three tools used by my specialist crafting classes. In my case those are Culinarian, Leatherworker, and Weaver. Those classes get the specialist bonus stats which makes completion a bit easier. I then work on the remaining 5 crafting classes and finish up by fishing.

Resources: I used the following resources during my Stellar tool grind:

• Final Fantasy XIV Online Wiki - My favorite reference site, whenever I needed help with a gathering task I just typed in the name of the mission. Most of the time I found the information I needed, especially with fishing.
  
  
• Raphael - This site was invaluable for doing crafting missions. The site creates macros even if you only know the name of the mission. The mission feature is something new since I used the site during the first phase of Cosmic Exploration. I personally plugged in the lowest set of stats for all my crafting classes and Raphael produced a workable macro.
  
  
• Teamcraft - I used both the Teamcraft Crafting Melding Guide and Teamcraft Gathering Melding Guide to determine how to overmeld my gear and tools.

Overmelding: Yes! Overmelding makes things much easier. I did Sinus Ardorum using the mid-tier Teamcraft sets. This wave I didn't have everything pentamelded but using the top gear plus as many melds as possible made Phaenna feel so much easier. Which is the point of overmelding gear in the first place.

Gathering: Feel free to do all the weather-restricted and time-restricted missions if interested in getting the 60 books required for the Cosmoboard. Just make sure to have as much GP as possible to make things easier. Gathering requires a lot of travel so remember use of the aetheryte is not restricted.

Crafting: I found the fastest way to level was to craft items I could make macros for. Also, when crafting try to pick the missions that only give 2 crates of materials as those go by really fast. If one really wants to grind class points, I understand Sinus Ardorum is still the fastest place to do so.

Mech Ops: Mech Ops either grant bonuses to the next 20 missions if done on foot or between 1200 and 1800 Cosmocredits if performed in a mech. I usually alternated between doing one in a mech and one on foot.

Red Alert: I love doing Red Alerts. The missions are easy which means racking up large amounts of class points. I think I'm up to doing two fishing missions per minute during a Red Alert. Overmelding large amounts of gathering point materia really comes in handy.

Cosmic Fortunes: Do at least one every day as just doing one gives a daily reward. Also, spending Phaenna credits on spins just to not lose the excess credits can prove profitable. Right now I still need to win the Warp Loader mount. I have just about everything else and have even sold items on the marketboard.

Spending Cosmocredits: I started spending my Cosmocredits to get the glamour items from the shop. Which, in hindsight wasn't the best move as I won a set playing the Cosmic Fortunes roulette. I then began buying all the materia I needed to complete overmelding my gear. My crafting gear is now fully pentamelded and I just need to add one more materia to each of the eight secondary tools I own for my crafting classes.

Of course I had to treat myself once I reached that point in my melding grind, so I spent 29,000 Cosmocredits to purchase an Interstellar Dhalmel. That's right, I'm now riding around on a giant space giraffe while I grind out the last materia needed to finish off my crafting sets.

That's it for now. I need to go out and grind for the larger prizes like the Cosmoboard and the mount available when a player finishes grinding out 500,000 class points on each crafting and gathering class. I also need to finish off getting the last intermediate research points so I can upgrade my tools as soon as patch 7.41 drops. Really, I'm only at the halfway point now. Two more patches to go.

Elon Musk And CCP Games?

Before too much more time goes by I really need to make note of a post on X by the owner of the platform, Elon Musk. I just want to let people know I don't follow Musk. I would have missed this tidbit if not for the folks over on MassivelyOP.com.

The post in question

At the time Musk made the post he probably was in London, home of CCP Games' CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson's office. Since the post was about artificial intelligence, in reply to a writer who concentrates on AI, I thought asking Musk's AI program Grok appropriate to explain the post.

Elon Musk's mention of a potential AI game collaboration with Eve Online reflects a bold shift, leveraging AI to create experiences beyond human design, aligning with recent advancements in generative AI, such as OpenAI's DALL-E, which produced the 'Critterz' film in just nine months with a $30 million budget.



This idea builds on Eve Online's unique player-driven economy, supported by a 2019 study from the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research showing its 500,000+ active users generate real economic value through in-game trade, suggesting AI could enhance this complexity rather than replace it.



The timing coincides with xAI's growth and the rise of blockchain-based gaming (e.g., Xai's Layer 3 solution), hinting at a future where AI-driven games could integrate decentralized, persistent worlds, challenging the centralized control of traditional MMOs.

While the above may be an AI hallucination, the reasoning tracks. Plus, data centers in Iceland have advantages not found in other locations. Well besides the fact that CCP Games was one of the original anchors for Verne Global's data center back in 2012.

The creator of the EVE Online virtual world, CCP Games, chose Verne Global based on the site’s renewable power grid and strategic location between its two primary markets. Furthermore, a key factor is Verne Global’s ability to offer fixed power pricing for extended contracts.

“The primary reason for selecting Verne Global above all other alternative sites were the availability and predictability of power and the option of securing long-term price guarantees at attractive price levels,” explained CCP’s IT Director, Ingvar Bjarnason...

The new data center uses Iceland’s vast supply of hydroelectric and geothermal energy, and also takes advantage of the country’s cool climate, which allows for free cooling all year round. Modular specialist Colt customised the data center’s hall design, equipping it with cooling modules that allow to cool servers using air from outside the data center.

Well, a little more went into the arrangement since CCP Games and Verne Global had intertwining financial connections due to the involvement of Bjorgolfur Thor, Iceland's first dollar billionaire, in both companies. But with AI requiring the creation of a lot more data centers, operating in Iceland would provide an advantage to Musk's AI initiatives.

But the biggest reason for making a note are the rumors of Pearl Abyss looking to sell off CCP Games. At the time the rumors first emerged I thought someone interested in cryptocurrencies would show interest but I couldn't really think of a good buyer. But throw in Musk's interests in crypto as well as AI and maybe the idea isn't as far-fetched as when I first read about the X post on MassivelyOP.

Changes Are Coming To EVE Online's Monthly Economic Report

Last Thursday CCP Games released the monthly economic report (MER) for August 2025. Normally I would publish a post focusing on the Active ISK Delta, a measure of the net effect on the money supply of players leaving and returning to the game, including all GM actions. But with CCP's data scientists revamping the MER, now is a good time to change the way I look at the metrics like the Active ISK Delta as well.

Faucets, sinks, and the Active ISK Delta

First, let's look at the information provided by CCP.

The Monthly Economic Report for August 2025 is now available!

The Future & Beta:

• We are doing major work on both the data-pipeline and output (plots and CSVs) of the MER. You can see some of the early output in the beta directory. Expect to see significantly more in the September MER.
• Some plots will removed, mostly due to data issues.. We’ll go though each in detail next MER release.
• Specific to the Import/Export Chart - The data-source for this being depreciated. Regardless, we’ll continue to run it for as long as we can, in its current state. We understand there is some interest in it at the moment.

Some of the issues it has:

• It ignores Titan Bridge movements.
• It ignored Jump Bridge movements (rare between regions) until recently.
• We wanted to only include Non-Singleton items (that is, un-assembled items), in cargo holds. We can’t, the current data-source doesn’t differentiate between singletons and non-singletons. Nor does it differentiate between different holds (for example - ship holds for Capitals). We want the chart to show the movement of goods (but not ships) between regions. Instead we get a weird mix of goods and some ships in some cases.

For those running scripts to extract data from the MER; Sorry. Thank you for your patience.

I use the MER to explain player numbers on Tranquility which is why these posts almost always include Jester's average concurrent user charts.

Last 12 months

Since the Active ISK Delta became a tracked metric in February 2016 I have worked with the understanding that the active money supply consists of ISK held in corporate wallets plus in the wallets of characters of accounts that have logged in within the past 30 days. But I've had to question that understanding over the past few weeks. CSM member (and YouTuber) The Oz came out and stated the active money supply consists of ISK in the wallets of accounts that have logged in within the past 90 days. After searching the Internet, I can't find a statement either confirming or contradicting his assertion.

Now, if The Oz is correct -- and he does have direct access to the devs -- then the Active ISK Delta becomes a lot less explanatory of a metric. For example, let's take the Active ISK Delta for the last three Julys. The months with the most ISK removed in the last 9 years occurred in July 2024, July 2025, and July 2023. If the active money supply is defined as the ISK held in the wallets of accounts that logged into EVE in the past 30 days, then I can point to the aftermath of players who came back for the summer expansion falling away. But if the active money supply is defined as ISK on accounts that have logged in within the past 90 days? Honestly, I can't say what occurred in April of the last three years to make the money supply fall by over 5% in July.

I have to admit that due to the reading about economics I've done over the past couple of years I was inclined to just look at the money supply on a quarterly basis. The only thing holding me back was the explanatory nature of the Active ISK Delta. If the quarterly criteria applies as to whether an EVE account is active, I can't justify looking at the Active ISK Delta on a monthly basis. Not anymore.

The first two months of the global PLEX market

So does that mean I'll only look at the monthly economic reports on a quarterly basis? I do have ideas of new things to look at. For instance, the global PLEX market. I've always wondered about the ratio of ISK purchased off the market vs the ISK faucets. With the necessity of finding something new to write about I can recreate new datasets to look at the EVE Online economy in new ways.

Perhaps other ideas will pop up as CCP indicated a new data flow and different data will arrive next month. But for now I have to start working on a new format for these monthly posts.

The Ownership Of Cloud Imperium Games, 2025 Edition

September is here, which means the yearly disclosure of who owns shares in Cloud Imperium Games. Every September Cloud Imperium UK Ltd, the main company in Cloud Imperium, files a confirmation statement with UK Companies House disclosing the current ownership of CIG. Last year the confirmation statement allowed the public to know the disposition of CIG co-founder Ortwin Freyermuth's shares in the company. Today's filing confirms that the $5 million purchase of shares made on 15 January this year was to Keith Calder, CIG's second largest shareholder.

List of CIG shareholders, 2025

January's stock allotment and purchase increased Keith Calder's holdings in CIG to 22.4%. When combined with father Clive Calder's shares, the Calders control 23% of CIG. While CIG founder and CEO Chris Roberts saw his ownership share drop below 70% the veteran game maker and former film producer still holds solid control of Cloud Imperium.

Since I get asked a few times a year for the list, here is a breakdown of CIG's ownership as of 10 September 2025.

Chris Roberts (69.7% ownership, 8,354,020 shares) - The co-founder of Cloud Imperium, Roberts is known as the creator of the Wing Commander series of video games. After short run in Hollywood as a film producer, Roberts returned to video games in 2011-2012.

Indus Management LTD (22.4% ownership, 2,435,116 shares) - The company is owned (or at least controlled) by Keith Calder, a film producer since 2004. Calder is perhaps best known for the movies One Night in Miami, Blair Witch, and Blindspotting. Over the past two years Calder's ownership share of CIG has increased from 13.3% to 22.4%.

Erin Roberts (4.6% ownership, 551,292 shares) - The brother of Chris Roberts, Erin has worked with Chris on projects going back 30 years. He currently is listed as CIG's Chief Development Officer.

Infatrade Group Corporation (2.3% ownership, 277,500 shares) - Infatrade is owned by Eli Klein, whom records show owns at least 75% of the company run by his brother Alon. Klein was involved as an advisor to CIG during the initial investment by the Calders and has had an involvement in company ever since.

Erloch, LTD (0.6% ownership, 70,034 shares) - Not much is known of Erloch, LTD, but information from the time of the Calders' initial investment in CIG leads to the conclusion the Erloch is the name of Clive Calder's family office in the Caymen Islands. According to Forbes, Clive Calder is worth $6.9 billion in 2025, although the records on UK Companies House show the "Calders' investment" in CIG was primarily from Clive's son Keith.

Marc Deaudet (0.2% ownership, 28,979 shares) - Marc Deaudet was a co-founder of Turbulent and mostly obtained his ownership stake in CIG's 2-stage acquisition of the company. Deaudet is currently listed as the Senior Vice President of Studio Operations.

Benoit Beausejour (0.2% ownership, 28,979 shares) - Benoit Beausejour was a co-founder of Turbulent and mostly obtained his ownership stake in CIG's 2-stage acquisition of the company. Beausejour is currently listed as the Chief Technology Officer of CIG.