CCP Games CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson is sitting in his office in Iceland one day when the phone rings – it’s a call from a foreign embassy. “Someone from our country has a problem with your game,” the voice on the other end of the line explains.
People are always having problems in EVE Online, a spaceship sim where corporate espionage and heists are as commonplace as star systems. But this feels different, and there’s something menacing about the tone of the conversation.
“I say, ‘Okay, well, people have problems all the time. What kind of problem?’” Pétursson recalls.
The caller gives him a vague explanation, Pétursson says he can’t help, and the call ends. Shortly after, the phone rings again.
“The problem with the game?” the voice says. “It’s a big problem. This person… their father is very powerful.”
Pétursson looks into their account. It turns out they’ve been banned for real-money trading, in which people buy and sell EVE Online’s in-game currency, called ISK.
“The person had attempted to buy a lot of ISK from a real-money trading website, and we found the person because that’s what we do,” Pétursson tells me. “So now I know the situation, they call again, and I say, ‘Okay, I looked into it, they did something which is not allowed, we banned them, end of story.”
“Well, this is a big problem,” the embassy replies. “And it will be a big problem for you if you don’t fix it.”
Despite the threat, Pétursson digs his heels in and ends the call. Shortly after, the line trills again. This time, the tone is different, more pleading.
“You have to unban them and give them their money back,” the embassy says. “It’s a problem for me that this hasn’t been fixed.”
“Sorry, this is against the terms of service,” Pétursson replies. “It’s a clear violation.”
“Well… maybe it would be very good for you,” the voice says, “if you worked to fix it.”
Despite the attempted bribe, Pétursson still doesn’t reinstate their account.