Eve Online’s Bloodbath of B-R5RB cost up to $330,000

The in-game damage caused by yesterdays battle in CCP's massively multiplayer online game, Eve Online, cost up to $330,000 in real-life currency and saw a total of 75 Titans destroyed, according to a post on the game's official blog.

Dubbed The Bloodbath of B-R5RB, the 21-hour battle was the biggest engagement in the game's 10 year lifespan. It involved 7,548 participants overall with 2,670 players in the B-R5RB system at the same time, a "dead-end system" in the Immensea region where the main battle was located.

Although, in terms of player involvement, The Bloodbath is not the biggest battle in Eve's history. The war involving the largest number of players was the battle for 6VDT-H, which reached 4,070 pilots in system.

The recent battle stemmed from 'The Halloween War," but was truly ignited by a missed bill payment, according to the post. When the NPC "police force" called CONCORD came to collect the sovereignty bill for B-R5RB from player corporation H A V O C, it found that the corp left their automatic payment unchecked. The missed payment then rendered the system "up for grabs."

"Missed bill payments are certainly not new to the human experience nor are they to EVE Online," the post reads. "Human error has caused many a system to lapse... This single missed payment sparked off what would become the most expensive battle in EVE Online history. One pilot's action (or inaction) had repercussions for the entire universe-a butterfly wing causing a massive typhoon of destruction."

In terms of destruction, 75 Titans, capital class starships, were destroyed during the fight. The N3 and Pandemic Legion side lost 59 Titans, while the CFC Alliance and Russian-heavy coalition forces lost 16. Previously, no more than 12 Titans have been destroyed in a single battle. Alexander "The Mittani" Gianturco, the CEO of Goonswarm Federation, estimates that the average Titan is worth $2500 in real-world currency. One destroyed Titan, Kan's Erebus, was valued at 222b ISK, or approximately $5,500.

To commemorate the battle and the colossal spaceships, an installation of Titan wreck models will be placed within the system during downtime of Jan. 31.

"Something of this scale, where the players had left an indelible mark on the universe through their extraordinary actions, needed to have something more permanent in game to commemorate it and we are proud to highlight the bravery and commitment of our players to their craft of blowing up spaceships," the post reads.

To get a taste of what the battle involved, check out the video below or browse screenshots captured by players during the engagement.