Entropia Universe

Development

Development of Entropia Universe, originally called Project Entropia, began in 1995 with two groups: one in Sweden led by Jan Welter Timkrans and one in Switzerland led by Benny Iggland. The initial setting was the fictional Planet Calypso, and the 2001 version used the NetImmerse 4 game engine. The Commercial Open Trial launched on May 20, 2002, and the game reached gold status with Version Update 4.2 on January 28, 2003. In 2022, developers started migrating the game to Unreal Engine 5, aiming to preserve the economic and item systems.

Significant events and virtual property sales

On December 14, 2004, MindArk concluded the first Treasure Island Sale, with a virtual island sold for 265,000 PED, then the highest price for a virtual item. On October 24, 2005, Jon "Neverdie" Jacobs bought a virtual asteroid space resort for 1,000,000 PED, surpassing that record.

On May 2, 2006, MindArk introduced an ATM card allowing players to withdraw real currency from their PED funds, and stated that $165 million had passed through the game in 2005. On October 17, 2006, registered users reached 500,000. On May 8, 2007, MindArk announced a virtual banking license auction; six two-year exclusive licenses sold for a total sum, with each winner required to add working capital.

Did You Know?

• The game can be played for free, but spending money on in-game currency unlocks additional options like purchasing items, skills, deeds, and services.
• Nearly all main in-game activities require expendable resources that must be purchased.
• Items can be crafted for personal use or for sale to other players.