EVE: Online as a Potential Microeconomic Model

Abstract

EVE: Online (EVE) is a video game with one of the largest virtual economies in existence. The question reigns, can a video game economy function realistically according to microeconomic theory? To test this, I examined multiple variables for a commodity in EVE over an extended period. I found that the commodity’s price and demand acted in the same way that real-world commodity prices do. This suggests that EVE’s economy adheres to microeconomic theory. Knowing this, there are many useful applications for EVE as a tool to measure and predict microeconomic behavior and possibly even macroeconomic behavior.