He lives in 'high-sec' space, where an ultra-powerful computer-controlled police force watches over everything. His 8% shares in this casino alone get him 150-250 billion ISK a month, he says. He also gets a wage as a 'banker' for a high-profile casino called - a website where any Eve player can gamble their fictional currency on slot machines and raffles. Lenny has shares and stocks that bring in huge sums of money on a monthly basis. 'The worry was they would try to single me out, target me as an individual out-of-game, so we kind of kept everything under wraps.' 'They can't really hurt me financially,' he says. The 'Goonswarm' will soon be coming for him. He has just been revealed as one of the masterminds of the new war. He has been described as 'obscenely rich' by some of his fellow players and although he has been trying to keep a low profile in recent weeks, he is now feeling very exposed. In real life, he is a defence contractor for the US Department of Defense.

It's a strange name for an established investment banker and stockbroker. But behind the historical resentment, behind the missiles and the lasers, behind the Goons and the Badgers, lie a handful of men who have done more to fuel this war than anyone else. The reasons for this war are many and the grudges held across Eve's 13-year history have played their part. On the other side, a band known as Moneybadger Coalition - a conglomerate of mercenaries, militiamen, pirates, corporations and private armies. On one side, a force of players calling themselves the Imperium but often called the 'Goons' because of their roots in the Something Awful forums. EVE Online is once again exploding.Ī sandbox MMO that is familiar even to mainstream media for its headline-generating battles, Eve is undergoing its first great war in years. For the other, the true war is just beginning. For one side of this conflict, the war is almost over. Pilots, new and old, are rushing to join comrades on the front line, seeking adventure, glory and fame. Thousands of ships have been destroyed in fierce battles, torn apart by lasers, or blown to pieces by missiles from stealth bombers. Thousands of people have died, risen, and died again. Read it before, read it afterwards or use it as a reference point throughout. How one very rich man and his cartel of allies dethroned the most notorious leader in EVE Online and scattered his once-unstoppable army of 'Goons'.Īs a companion piece to this report, you can peruse the cast of characters here. A brigade of pirates, a gambling kingpin, a temperamental fleet commander and the financier who brought them all together.

Eve online casino war