EVE Online reactivates Plex for Good charity campaign to support COVID-19 relief

Plex for Good is a charitable program run by CCP Games that enables EVE Online players to donate Plex, EVE's premium in-game currency, to support a particular cause. Players donate their Plex over the course of a particular campaign, at the end of which CCP tallies it all up, converts it to real-world money, and then hands it over to the charity in question.

The program started in 2005 to raise funds for victims of the tsunami that devastated Indonesia and Sri Lanka, and has been reactivated several times since, including for flood relief in Pakistan, earthquake recovery efforts in Nepal, and most recently to support Australian bushfire relief efforts. Today CCP announced that it's coming back again, this time in support of the World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.

"The money raised through this Plex For Good campaign will help the World Health Organization (WHO) to coordinate the global effort, support countries to prevent, detect, and respond to the pandemic," CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson said. "It will also help the WHO to ensure that all countries—especially those with the weakest health systems—are prepared, as well as supporting their work to understand the virus, to ensure frontline workers get essential supplies and information, and to accelerate efforts to develop vaccines, tests, and treatments."

Pétursson urged players to stay on top of WHO's COVID-19 advice for the public, and to act accordingly to support front-line healthcare workers, particularly to ensure that they have ready access to N95 masks. He also revealed a new face mask "concept" that CCP has been working on for the EVE Online character creation system.

To contribute to the campaign, contract Plex to the CCP Plex for Good character. CCP asked that donations be kept to a minimum of 240 Plex ($10), which it said will enable it to process them as efficiently as possible, and also warned that while EVE Online is generally an anything-goes Wild West, it will consider Plex for Good scams "morally reprehensible," and will meet them "with the harshest and swiftest action at our disposal."

Donations to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund can be made directly, if you prefer, at covid19responsefund.org.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.