EVE Online has a stable player base due to its very steep learning curve and eternal niche existence. CCP managed to increase the player count to around 500,000, and players have remained remarkably loyal to EVE Online after more than 10 years. However, a disturbingly low number of possible subscriptions has now emerged.
Only 140,000 Completed Subscriptions
The co-host of the Legacy of A Capsuleer podcast, ShadowandLight, claims to have heard from a little birdie that EVE only has 140,000 subscribers left. Whether this information is verified remains uncertain, as CCP has not published official player counts for EVE Online since 2012. The fear that many could abandon the sinking ship might be a reason for this.
Mathematically Impossible
The blog “The Nosy Gamer” has conducted some calculations. They looked at the annually held elections for the Council of Stellar Management (CSM), where every player can cast a vote and elect individuals to the CSM. This method allowed them to derive at least clear numbers until 2012 by comparing the number of votes cast to the player counts. If we extrapolate the votes from 2014, we arrive at 320,000 – 350,000 active accounts.
As mentioned in a report from the American magazine Massively, discussions with CCP in early 2013 suggested there were nearly 500,000 – which would imply a loss of about 150,000 subscribers over the past two years.
One Server, One Player Count
Another way to estimate the player numbers of EVE Online is the number of players currently online on the giant server Tranquility, displayed in the EVE Online launcher. Here, you can also compare the number of online players with those who have a subscription. An average of over 30,000 players is online. That would be an extremely high number if only 140,000 subscriptions existed.
It is clear that CCP has lost player numbers compared to 2010 – 2012, but it is by no means only 140,000 active subscriptions. However, an interesting consideration is that many EVE players own more than one account due to the game mechanics. Thus, it could be the case that while there are over 300,000 subscriptions, there are only 140,000 real people using them. This would mean about 2.3 accounts per player – a realistic number, even if non-EVE players shake their heads in disbelief.
No matter which number is correct, I believe that starting with EVE Online is still worth it.
Source: nosygamer.blogspot.de and massively.com
