Game Economics
Game economics is the most valuable game we all have to play.
A great idea can come from any being, anywhere, anytime, at any age. The limit is never the idea — it's the connection of idea with energy and know-how to coordinate capital:
| Capital Type | What It Is | Game Economics Application |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | Secure, well-connected operating base | Guild infrastructure, territory control |
| Resources | Abundant raw materials | In-game assets, compute, bandwidth |
| Money | Tokenized goodwill | Currency, reputation, trust scores |
Games teach coordination before the stakes are existential. The hive-mind emerges when beings learn to connect ideas with capital — regardless of who had the idea.
"Virtual economies are no longer just systems of play; they are living, evolving financial systems that demand serious study." — Stefán Þórarinsson, former Central Bank of Iceland economist, now Head of Economy at CCP Games
Better to fail in a simulation than real life. Game economies are where we test AGI economics before the stakes are existential. Agent-based simulations, token incentives, coordination protocols — the hive-mind learns to coordinate in games first.
Games Test Standards
Standards create predictable outcomes. Games are where you test standards before deploying them to reality.
REAL ECONOMY: Standards → Predictable Outcomes → Capital Flow → Growth
GAME ECONOMY: Test Standards → Measure Outcomes → Iterate → Graduate to Reality
| What EVE Tests | Standard Being Validated | Real-World Application |
|---|---|---|
| Monetary policy | Central bank levers | Inflation control |
| Market structures | Trading protocols | Exchange design |
| Property rights | Ownership standards | Asset tokenization |
| Governance | DAO voting mechanisms | Futarchy |
The Deming-Simkin insight: Japan won manufacturing with quality standards creating calibration loops. EVE Online is doing the same for economic standards — test, measure, adjust, compound.
Futurist games take this further: predict which standards will win, then bet on your predictions. The skill isn't just playing — it's recognizing which protocols create predictable outcomes.
The Dream-Engineering Balance
Goodwill pulls. Willpower pushes. Both must stay coupled or the game breaks.
| System | In Games | In Economies |
|---|---|---|
| Belief (Goodwill) | What players dream of building | What markets imagine possible |
| Value (Trust) | Fair rules, no cheating | Sound money, property rights |
| Control (Willpower) | What's actually buildable | What's actually executable |
EVE Online works because player dreams stay coupled with engineering constraints. When they decouple:
- Too much dream: Players expect features that can't exist → disappointment, churn
- Too much engineering: Optimized but soulless → players leave for games with vision
- No anchor: Rules feel unfair → trust collapses, economy breaks
This is why game economies are the best lab for real economies. The three systems are visible and adjustable. When balance breaks, you can patch in weeks instead of decades.
The insight: Problems in real economies are often dream-engineering imbalance. Games let you test rebalancing before stakes are existential.
EVE Online: The 20-Year Experiment
EVE Online has operated a player-driven economy for over two decades — the definitive example of emergent financial systems at scale.
| Year | Milestone | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | First in-world economist hired | Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson — first MMO with dedicated real-world economist |
| 2024 | EVE Frontier alpha launch | Blockchain-based economy, on-chain assets |
| 2025 | Central bank economist joins | Stefán Þórarinsson brings monetary policy expertise |
This is Peter Kaufman's Three Buckets in action — testing economic principles against physics (resource constraints), biology (emergent behavior), and human history (coordination patterns) simultaneously.
Research Areas
CCP's economic research agenda mirrors what DeepMind's AGI Economics role is seeking:
| Research Area | Game Context | Real-World Application |
|---|---|---|
| Monetary Policy & Inflation | How economic levers influence pricing and currency stability | Central bank policy testing |
| Market Equilibrium | How supply and demand fluctuate with player/NPC interactions | Market dynamics modeling |
| Asset & Currency Flows | Integration of digital assets and economic activity | Tokenized economy design |
| Behavioral Economics | Player decision-making, speculation, adaptation | Human coordination patterns |
Why Games First
| Advantage | In Games | In Reality |
|---|---|---|
| Iteration speed | Patch in weeks | Policy takes years |
| Failure cost | Restart, learn | Recession, collapse |
| Data density | Every transaction logged | Incomplete, delayed |
| Experimentation | A/B test economies | Politically impossible |
| Scale | Millions of agents | Same |
The bees figured this out: calibration-free aggregation works because individual mistakes average out. Games let us test coordination protocols before deploying to systems where mistakes compound.
The Blockchain Evolution
EVE Frontier adds on-chain assets to the equation — true ownership, composability, and interoperability. This is where crypto economics meets game economics:
- Ownership: Players truly own assets (not just database entries)
- Composability: Assets can interact across systems
- Transparency: All transactions verifiable
- Emergent governance: DAOs forming within game economies
Predict Game Economies
Tools
- machinations.io — Game economy simulation and balancing
- Gauntlet — Economic modeling for DeFi protocols
Context
- Games — The cave where coordination is learned
- Players — The hive-mind that emerges from coordination
- Standards — What survives from simulation to reality
- Crypto — The incentive layer for digital economies
- DePIN — Physical infrastructure meeting game economics
Links
- CCP Games Appoints Central Bank Economist — March 2025
- EVE Frontier Recruits Economist — Decrypt coverage
- EVE Online Economic Reports — Monthly data
- DeepMind AGI Economics Role — The real-world application
The future of post-scarcity economics is being prototyped in MMOs right now. The question isn't whether game economics matters — it's whether you're learning from it before the stakes become existential.