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Dmitry Rud
Portal PC Gamer drew attention to the story of user Flan_Hill from the Reddit forum, which claimsthat on March 30, 2023, together with an accomplice, pulled off the largest robbery in the history of the multiplayer space game EVE Online from developers from the Icelandic studio CCP Games.
Image Source: CCP Games
Unlike in the past, the biggest heist in the history of EVE Online (that case happened in 2017included long months of infiltration into the victim’s trust and subsequent betrayal), the Flam_Hill operation was less bloody and involved much less work on the part of the conspirators.
Flam_Hill’s plan was to take control of the in-game corporation Event Horizon Expeditionaries (abbreviated as EHEXP), founded in 2011, with 299 members and part of the Pandemic Horde alliance, by exploiting the stock mechanic in EVE Online.
First of all, Flam_Hill and his partner began to study their goal – for the happiness of the conspirators, the activity of the CEO and other leaders turned out to be extremely low. Secondly, the couple had to infiltrate the corporation, pass all the checks, recruiting conversations and joint flights with future “colleagues”.
Flam_Hill compares his operation to a bank robbery in broad daylight
Using a “clean account”, Flan_Hill and his accomplice applied for membership and a few weeks later (the process was delayed due to low management activity) became members of EHEXP. Next, Flan_Hill transferred enough shares to the agent (he had about a thousand of them) to initiate the election of a new CEO.
Both conspirators voted “for” and … were forced to wait until the system transferred the role of the general director and all his powers to the selected agent. For three days, no one in either EHEXP or Pandemic Horde noticed a dirty trick, and after 72 hours of full experiences, the deed was done.
The accomplice was appointed CEO, and Flan_Hill got the role of director. Together they relieved the rest of the leaders from their positions, cleaned out the corporate wallet (it contained about 130 billion units of the in-game currency ISK) and the hangar (it contained several large ships).
Flan_Hill’s audacious plan wasn’t as exciting as EVE Online’s epic custom wars, but the result was
In total, Flan_Hill and a partner stole approximately 2.23 trillion ISK worth of EHEXP property, which is about $22.3 thousand (the previous record was $10 thousand). These credits cannot be withdrawn from the game, but they can be used to purchase plexes, which are spent on upgrading accounts, purchasing virtual goods, and activating other services.
Some Reddit users doubted Flan_Hill’s story (in particular, the source of his shares), but CCP Games confirmed that the robbery did take place. Gamers also agreed that the stock system (which has been in place for over nine years) in EVE Online is too easy to wrap in your favor.
PC Gamer notes that Flan_Hill’s plan may sound boring and pedantic, but it actually demonstrates where a deep knowledge of the rules can take a player. User Intransigient put it this way: “This is what comes from not understanding how corporations work in EVE”.
