Charitable capsuleers,

By now most of us have seen the distressing images coming out of Australia where severe bushfires continue to cause devastation to large parts of the continent. We have witnessed scenes of enormous firestorms, destroyed forests and entire communities driven out of their homes. Human lives have been tragically lost to the fires, and millions of animals have been wiped out.

But we have also seen inspiring scenes, too - volunteer firefighters valiantly battling the advancing flames day and night, emergency shelter staff providing displaced families with food, clothing and a place to rest their heads, and the ongoing efforts to rescue and rehabilitate injured wildlife.

Since the outbreak of the fires:

29 people have lost their lives

Over 2,200 homes have been lost

Over 10 million hectares have burned

Hundreds of millions of animals have been killed

To put the actual scale of the fires into context, 10 million hectares is approximately 5 times the size of either the 2018 California wildfires or the 2019 Amazon rainforest wildfires. To put it another way, this is about the same size as the entire country of Iceland where CCP is based.

Many in the EVE Online community have called upon CCP to bring back PLEX for GOOD to lend a hand and we are happy to oblige, so today we are formally launching PLEX for GOOD for the Australian Bushfires.

What is PLEX for GOOD?

PLEX for GOOD is a charitable program operated by CCP Games on behalf of EVE Online players. It provides a way for EVE players to donate to a charitable cause through the use of the digital currency PLEX.

The first PLEX for GOOD swung into action in 2005 to raise funds for the South East Asian tsunami. Since then several campaigns have taken place over the years and so far, the players of EVE Online have raised over US$470,000 for charitable causes around the globe.

Once again, we will be partnering with the Red Cross for our PLEX for GOOD drive. The Red Cross is active on the ground in Australia providing support to those affected by the fires. You can read about some of their relief efforts here.

How long will the campaign run?

This campaign has commenced as of the publishing of this dev blog and will run until 23:59:59 UTC Sunday, 26 January 2020.

How does it work?

EVE players can contract PLEX in-game to the character CCP PLEX for GOOD and the real-world monetary value of all PLEX collected will be donated by CCP to the Icelandic Red Cross at the conclusion of the campaign on behalf of EVE Online players. The Icelandic Red Cross will ensure that the donated money is delivered to their counterparts in the Australian Red Cross where it will then be deployed to aid their humanitarian efforts in bushfire affected areas.

We are requesting that players respect a minimum donation of 100 PLEX. This will help keep the processing of donations as efficient as possible while also allowing those with only a small amount of PLEX to participate.

To obtain PLEX to donate, players can:

Purchase PLEX from the EVE Online website

Transfer PLEX they may already have in their PLEX vault

Purchase PLEX from the in-game market with ISK

To purchase PLEX visit secure.eveonline.com/plex and select a PLEX bundle. Then follow the checkout procedure and once you have completed the purchase your account will be credited with PLEX and it will appear in your PLEX vault in-game.

Open your inventory and drag the PLEX from your vault into your item hangar and then contract the PLEX from your item hangar to the character CCP PLEX for GOOD with a 14-day expiration.

IMPORTANT: CCP regards any scamming attempts surrounding PLEX for GOOD to be morally reprehensible, and any attempts at scamming relating to this program will be met with the harshest and swiftest action at our disposal. If you become aware anyone of attempting a scam related to PLEX for GOOD please notify us at support@eveonline.com

Community PLEX-raising efforts

Over the course of the campaign EVE players may wish to conduct their own PLEX-raising drives within their corps, alliances and other communities. If anyone is running a special event such as a stream or public fleet in support of PLEX for GOOD please reach out to us at communityteam@ccpgames.com and we will attempt to help raise awareness of your efforts!

Brawl for Bushfires

One such event is taking place this Friday, 17 January at 11:30 UTC in Nalvula. Australian timezone players from all walks of New Eden will be converging on Planet I for a free-for-all brawl. CCP will also be attending and the event will be streamed by AUTZ player Chiimera on Twitch so grab a ship and come slug it out for PLEX for GOOD!

On behalf of everyone here at CCP Games - thank you!

Please note that your contribution to PLEX for GOOD is not tax-deductible. For information on the Icelandic Red Cross (Rauði Krossinn á Íslandi), please visit their website at www.raudikrossinn.is or contact them at Efstaleiti 9, 103 Reykjavík, telephone +354 570 4000, central@redcross.is