EVE Online corporate thief steals $13,000 worth of assets in daring heist

An EVE Online player has spent six months patiently waiting to pull off a heist in which he stole $13,000 (£8,465) worth of in-game assets.

The player in question is Non Erata, who utilised five other EVE accounts in order to work his way up the ladder at the Vanguard Frontiers (VAF) corporation, before becoming a director and making off with 600 billion ISK-worth (the in-game currency) of the company's assets.

He did so by befriending other directors, paying for team chat channels and training new VAF members.

Because in-game money can be used to purchase subscription time in the MMO, the worth equates to an estimated $13,110.

While the stolen goods do have real worth, the player in question has not been banned for his actions and is still active.

EVE Online is a massive multiplayer galaxy-spanning sim that has built up a huge, dedicated player base in its 12 years on sale. There are few rules in EVE, but players generally work their up from space traders to the upper echelons of sprawling corporations.

The game often finds itself in the headlines when events occur that simply wouldn't be possible in the majority of other games. Last January for example the game's largest ever battle took place across two days and caused damage worth $300,000 (£181,000).

EVE News 24 spoke to Non Erata about the heist and how he pulled it off. Exuding swagger, Erata told them that he hopes to be the "number one corp thief in EVE history" and that his next heist is already in the works.

He also claims to be involved in a number of other corporations, and has kept his known account open so that he may be contacted – possibly with potential job offers.

Some players meanwhile believe developer CCP Games should step in to clamp down on this sort of behaviour given the real money value of ISK.