Entropia Universe: a Free to Play MMORPG with a unique Real Cash Economy!

Is it true that you can play it for free and make real money?!

What Is the PED? Entropia Universe's Real Cash Economy

For Your Information: this article was last updated on July 11, 2026, revised and corrected by Claude.

First of all, no other MMORPG is based on a Real Cash Economy...

The virtual economy inside Entropia Universe is worth something! Its currency, the PED, is pegged to the US dollar at a fixed exchange rate of 10 PED = 1 USD. So if you deposit $10, you'll get ~100 PED. And what can you do with 100 PED? Basically, you can buy a small gun or a rifle, and spend the remaining 90 PED on ammo.

From there, everything depends on the loot you'll find on the creatures you kill. If you're lucky with the rewards, you'll be able to hunt over and over... until you run out of PED. That's the basic explanation 😏 Though don't expect too much from the luck factor: Entropia is a business built on a "Casino MMORPG" model, so just tell yourself that in the end, the house always wins! That way, your dream of earning a salary with this game will fade away on its own 😅

Example: the laser rifle below costs 4 PED, and burns 166 ammo every time it fires one shot. On the right picture, you can see that 10,000 units of "ammo burn" cost 1 PED. So if you buy 1 PED of ammo (representing 10,000 ammo burn), this laser rifle will let you shoot (10,000/166) = 60 times before you have to buy more ammo.

Also, every time you use it... it decays! That means at some point, you'll have to buy another rifle 😉

You see, it's not like playing World of Warcraft, where the virtual money is worth nothing outside the game... I mean, in-game it has value, but out of the game, nobody would officially care about your massive virtual fortune, because it can't legally be exchanged for real dollars (not in a legal way at least... see the comment at the bottom).

Of course, there are unauthorized ways to sell virtual assets, like the EpicNPC Marketplace.

But in Entropia, you can make real money and it's perfectly legal! The money you deposit in-game and the profits you make over time can all be withdrawn. From this point on, we'll refer to Entropia Universe as EU for short, and to its Real Cash Economy as the RCE.

But wait! Why should you play EU when every other MMORPG out there is cheaper?!

Because of the little carrot you can win at every corner of the game! 😜

Globals and HOFs: The Casino Side of Entropia Universe

EU is what we can call a Casino MMORPG!

Every action you perform — killing a creature, mining for resources or crafting new gear — can bring you a Global, and even one worthy of the Hall of Fame! Basically, a Global is like hitting the jackpot on a slot machine: the machine pours money into your hands, makes its "Talatatatataaaaa" noise, and people around you applaud or say Gratz! for congratulations 😍

Below is a HOF — meaning a Global worthy of the daily Hall of Fame — that I hit back in 2010!

So what do you make of it? It says I killed a creature called an Atrox Old and got 378 PED out of it.

• Atrox is the name of the creature
• Old is its Maturity (in EU, Maturity defines how tough the creature will be)
• 378 PED is like winning 37.8 real dollars!

And why does it say the record was added to the HOF?

Because 378 PED is not common on an Atrox! It all depends on the creature you're hunting... If you kill the smallest creatures in the game because you want to play for free, don't expect a Global anytime soon... But the bigger the creature, the bigger the potential Global! You can compare it to a casino: the bigger the bet, the bigger the winnings... but also the bigger the chances of losing money.

Now, you probably won't withdraw this money right on the spot...

First, because you can't withdraw less than 1,000 PED (~100 real-life bucks), and MindArk takes a 1% withdrawal fee with a minimum of 100 PED — yes, withdrawing even costs you money.

Second, because that's more PED to make your avatar evolve — stronger gear, more ammo to hunt even more! And that's exactly what MindArk, the company behind EU, is counting on... If everyone withdrew their virtual money at the same time, MindArk would go bankrupt. Fortunately for them, the time you invest in EU makes you psychologically attached to your avatar, so you want to continue the adventure and re-invest!

A Big Warning: Entropia Universe Is NOT an Investment

Warning: when I got sucked into EU between September 2021 and mid-2023, I thought it was better to see my deposits not as "money wasted on a video game" but as an investment! An investment as if I were depositing money into a bank account — and then, depending on my knowledge of the game and the amount I was ready to invest, I could make this deposit grow over time at a better rate than any real-life bank!

But Jesus, I was so wrong about that... I guess I was one of the delusional players of that era, believing in a better future for EU. It may have been true in the past, when EU was a place where people could actually make money, but things have changed for the worse in recent years.

It has even become difficult to withdraw your money, as the support will try to push you into a mistake — the 12th part of this Entropia Universe guide covers this in detail, you'll learn about it later.

Just understand this: EU should be reserved for players who like to "gamble their money from time to time". Investing in EU is no longer worth it, and if you think you can thrive where others failed... sure, give it a go! But seriously: if you don't like gambling, EU is not a game for you.

There is absolutely no reason to play Entropia Universe over any other existing MMORPG, other than the gambling thrill... Every other MMORPG out there is better than EU in every way! So once again: investing in EU to make money or a salary out of it is no longer a thing. Only play EU if you have a small (or big) taste for gambling.

In 2022/2023, I made investments in real life with my real bank... and I earned around 1,000 bucks (10,000 PED if you're an EU player) in interest by the end of the year. In the same period, I would have made maybe 500 bucks (5,000 PED) had I invested that money in Entropia Universe. And I earned that real-life interest while doing nothing — unlike EU, where I would have had to sink my time in as well, promoting my lands!

In my opinion, Entropia Universe now works like a Ponzi scheme.

So it should have been shut down, right? Ponzi schemes are illegal after all... But EU is a niche game, which means nobody cares about what's happening there. Mainstream media only ever covered EU for its shiny records — like virtual properties sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars — but no journalist has ever seriously investigated the other side of the coin. It's as if the world had decided: if a few thousand people are foolish enough to play EU, let them sink their money into it.

And as I said above, EU is also a sci-fi role-playing game, an MMORPG... Players can't just quit from one day to the next. They get sucked in by the system, and some of them drown in it. They invest their savings dreaming of a brighter future that EU will never give them, they develop social relationship issues, and they grow frustrated for all kinds of reasons (living in a game with no future, never earning enough, always staying at square one in life...).

For those wondering why I'm writing all this... Yes, this is the Entropia Universe Beginner's Guide in several parts. But it's also a BIG WARNING! Make sure you know the risks before taking one more step into EU!

 

It's also a question of profile: are you a casual player? Or are you ready to spend 10 hours a day in front of your screen, trying to turn EU into a day job? (I wouldn't recommend it, but that's your life...)

Because here are the ways to make money in EU:

1. Hunting monsters — ideally those sought after for their loot
2. Mining, as in searching for ores and energy matter
3. Crafting things to sell — you can even open your own shop!
4. Selling your services, like "Space Travel" or "Creature Taming"
5. Buying Deeds, meaning acquiring ownership of EU lands
6. Offering other kinds of services, like "Promoting" or "Item Renting"
7. It's an RCE — your imagination will find other ways, I'm sure!

But again... you'd be well advised to make money in real life first, and then gamble it in the game

— not the other way around!

Big Profits Require Big Deposits: The 1% Rule of Entropia Universe

But once more, I have to repeat myself...

Making big profits means making BIG deposits! EU is like real life: you're not going to turn $10 into $1,000...

Well yes, in real life some people have managed to do exactly that, but it takes a very long time, or an amount of luck you rarely see... So let's be realistic and forget about the exceptions. Let's say you're the average Joe: then the average Joe will have to deposit BIG to earn BIG, it's as simple as that.

So if your goal is to make money out of EU, you'd better show up with an entrepreneur's mindset!

You may have heard stories of people who made BIG profits from the game — but those people belong to the 1% of players who invested MUCH MORE than everyone else! The remaining 99% will never make a living in EU... And among that 1%, some were so lucky that they should have played the lottery instead — they would have earned far more! ^_^

Besides, as EU has drifted more and more toward a Ponzi-like system...

• If you're one of the big wallets in this game, it might work out for you, as you'll make money from the funds invested by the new players trapped in the system, while they lose everything. Note that I said "it might" — I've seen a lot of veterans leave the game in the late 2020s.
• If you're part of the new wave, withdrawing your funds will be difficult. Remember what I said: in a Ponzi-like system, there is never enough money for everyone to withdraw.

And even if you're one of the Whales (Whales are the big players investing a lot of money), this game will require you to spend your whole freaking life in front of your computer! We're not talking about an average 7-hour workday here. Some desperate players stay connected up to 20 hours a day, literally hoping to earn cents every day! Yes, you read that right... CENTS!

Trust me: you'd be better off finding a real job in real life, and then spending that money in EU.

And don't put too much faith in the stories of people claiming big winnings on the official forum... Actually, don't trust them at all. Many of them are just telling themselves stories — and lying to themselves in the process.

Sweat Gathering Is the ONLY Free Activity In-Game!

Gathering Vibrant Sweat from creatures is the ONLY way to play for FREE!
(Well, you can also collect fruits... but in that case, go beg in the street instead — it will bring you more money 🤨)

Vibrant Sweat can be gathered from most mobs across Entropia Universe, but it can't be sold to the Trade Terminal. You can only sell it to other players... which basically means you'll be trying to get money from players who invested real money, while you decided to stay a leecher... That's the WAY of the Free to Play player!

There is also the Sweat Gatherer Hall of Fame where you can compare your skills with other players.

RULES OF A GOOD SWEATING CIRCLE:

1. Stand your ground! Don't move just because the mob hit you — don't be a coward.
2. Don't stand too close to the nearby turret! Otherwise the mob will get killed, and we'll have to pull another one.
3. The best place to sweat is Club Royale, where we sweat Ambulimax — not Boreas, where you only get Kerberos.
4. If we pull an Ambulimax Mature, we have to keep it away from the turret, because the turret's killing range increases with the creature's maturity. An Ambulimax Young will only be killed if it gets too close, a Mature will be killed at medium range, and an Old one will be killed by the turret even from long range!

I'm spelling this out because it doesn't seem to be obvious to everyone...

Back in 2006, when I registered and played Entropia Universe for the very first time, sweat gathering was practiced by A LOT of people! At that time it hadn't been nerfed yet — more on that below. Still, we were no cowards! Everyone knew they had to stand their ground, and even die if needed.

Contrary to modern beliefs, sweating circles were not perfect back in 2006... But people knew how to behave! We weren't as self-centered as today, where too many players don't give a damn about others. We all stood our ground and died as many times as necessary to keep the sweating circles strong. When an Ambulimax ran dry, we all rushed to the next one together. It wasn't perfect, but at least people respected each other.

Vibrant Sweat Price: From 8 PED Down to 1.3 PED per 1,000 Units

Over the years, the price of Vibrant Sweat has dropped drastically! And it's not like you can do anything about it, because the players who deposit money are the ones who decide whether they want to buy your sweat or not.

~20 years ago, back in 2006, 1,000 units of sweat (1K) used to sell for something like 8 or 9 PED! And while gathering sweat — which was also faster back then — you would acquire skills that helped you defend yourself against creatures. So once upon a time, it was possible to sweat for one hour, and then go shoot creatures for a good 15 minutes!

That's no longer the case... The price of sweat has dropped over the years to around 1.3 PED for 1K, skill gains from sweating have been drastically nerfed, and the amount of sweat you can gather has been divided by 5! So it now takes you 5 times longer to gather sweat that sells for about 6 times less than it used to — and on top of that, you'll earn peanuts in terms of skills 😁

So if you're a Free to Play player, life will be hard for you in EU! You'll have to accept it... or leave!

It also depends on where you are in the Entropia Universe, because there are several planets with different economies... But we can say the average price for 1,000 sweat is around 1.3 PED. Don't believe the people who tell you never to sell below 1.5 to 2 PED per 1,000 Vibrant Sweat. Some players have been brainwashed into refusing anything under 1.5 PED — and now you can feel all the frustration built up in them.

The problem with that advice? You see players gathering sweat for WEEKS and MONTHS, never managing to sell their BIG stock, because they've been brainwashed by those people — many of them tied to big industry events. It's in their own interest to make players believe they shouldn't sell below that price, so those players keep attending their little events, where only a few of them will ever see a small percentage of their sweat stock bought at that rate.

As a result, you see frustrated players sitting on 100K of sweat or more, spamming the #calytrade and #trade channels (or any other trade channel) because they're sick and tired of hunting for a buyer at the delusional price of 1.5 to 2 PED per K.

And when people spam trade channels... guess what happens next? Other players simply put them on ignore. These frustrated players end up on everyone's ignore lists — after all, they're not selling anything rare. It's just sweat, easily bought from any player. If you ignore one seller, there are still a hundred others to buy from. So for those ignored players, selling their sweat becomes nearly impossible!

All of this because a few misguided gurus told them never to sell below a certain price.

There is also another way to sell your sweat — I call it the "desperate way".

A few Twitch streamers offer up to 6 PED per 1,000 units of sweat, which is far above the average rate of 1.3 PED. What's the catch? You have to watch their streams for hours to earn points, and only with those points will these streamers agree to buy your sweat at a higher price. So you end up with desperate players who literally leave their browser open 24/7 on a handful of Twitch streams.

These people must be living in their parents' basement... because the electricity bill costs more than the gains.

As for the average price of sweat, let's do some quick math...

• If you gather sweat for 1 hour, you might get around 1K, so 1,000 units of Vibrant Sweat (and that's being generous — many players need closer to 2 hours)
• Let's say you're lucky and manage to sell it for 1.5 PED... As you may know (or not), one real dollar equals 10 PED. So selling your hard-earned sweat for 1.5 PED means earning $0.15 — fifteen cents...
• You just spent one freaking hour to earn 15 cents...

Quick question: would you accept a real-life job paying 15 cents per hour?

People with no life will say yes!, and people who can walk out the door and get hired as a waiter at the nearest bar will say no! There are of course a few exceptions, like disabled people or people living in very poor countries...

But if you live in a very poor country... I honestly don't know what you're doing on EU! If I were in a dire situation like many workers in poor countries, I would think survival first — not Entropia Universe!

As a point of comparison, an exploited factory worker in Vietnam earns around 84 cents per hour. So when you use your avatar ONLY to sweat, staying in front of your screen doing nothing else (and trust me, many players do exactly that), you're earning more than 5 times LESS than an exploited factory worker!

Your earnings won't even cover the electricity needed to power your computer 🤨

And still, in every sweat gathering circle, you'll find people blaming the AFK players (Away From Keyboard) because the creature isn't pulled to the turret fast enough... Well, if you're not happy, do it yourself! AFK people HAVE a life — you obviously DON'T! So pull the damn creature to the turret yourself, or die trying!

If you decide to gather sweat... ALWAYS do something else at the same time. Something PRODUCTIVE!

Because let's be honest: gathering sweat is NOTHING but wasted time in your life...

Personally, I do my workouts on Twitch at the same time. I can't chat or type on the keyboard, but I don't care: at least I'm improving my real-life health and physical performance while my avatar gathers sweat 😎

I also sweat whenever I have laundry to do, or trash to take out — things like that 😅

Sweat gathering should only ever be a background activity behind your other windows!

Next part: Starting Planet