Unlike other games which use built-in ‘currencies’ for buying and selling in-game items, Entropia Universe actually lets you exchange your game currency for real-world cash. This means that you can use the game to profit with real money. Here, we give you 14 ways to earn money in Entropia Universe.
If playing games is not your thing, don’t worry. Some of the best ways to earn money with Entropia Universe don’t even require you to play. You just need to be able to log in to the game from time to time.
Entropia Universe
Summary
A game is an unexpected and unusual environment for making money, but it is possible in Entropia Universe. Some of these ways may not be practical for all, and the free methods will require a large investment in time. At least you can have some fun while you are at it.
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Dollars PEDs and PECs
Entropia Universe uses a currency called PED, which stands for Project Entropia Dollar. It comes from the game’s original title, Project Entropia.
A PED has a fixed value against the US dollar. Money that you deposit into the game buys you 10 PED for every dollar. Conversely, 10 PED buys you 1 dollar when withdrawing.
One PED is also divisible into 100 Project Entropia Cents, called PECs.
Real Cash Economy
Entropia Universe is based upon a Real Cash Economy. That is because nearly every item in the game has a PED value. Since you can exchange PED for US dollars, every such item in the game also has a real-world cash value.
Almost every action that you take within the game has positive or negative consequences that you can measure in real-world money terms. And economic activity takes place between players in a similar way to real-world economic activity
What is Entropia Universe?
To understand how you can earn money by playing Entropia Universe, it is necessary to know a little about the game.
The Swedish company Mindark created Entropia Universe (EU), and launched it in 2003. It is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) with a sci-fi theme.
EU runs on Windows PC only, and you must be 18 years or older in order to play.
It is based upon a 3D virtual world which, when it launched, consisted of a single planet called Calypso. Even then, Calypso was large enough to keep players engaged in exploration and its many activities for months, or years.
EU is free to play, but you can boost progress by depositing cash in exchange for PED, or game items. I should mention that everybody who plays EU does not do so with the primary intention of making money. Many play just for the entertainment aspect of the game, and are happy to pay to do so.
That is how most other online games work. The paying players are the reason that Mindark and other players are able to make money in Entropia Universe. Several players have reported that they have made good profits in the game without ever depositing.
What Do Players Do in Entropia Universe?
EU is a sandbox game. As a player, you are free to do whatever you choose. There are no constraints like having to follow story-lines, scripts or missions.
Like many Role-Playing Games (RPGs), you can assume one or more roles or occupations. There are many occupations in EU, but the three most common are hunting, mining and crafting. Each activity produces something which you can sell, trade or use to produce a different item.
Each planet contains minerals, goods and other elements that are unique to that planet. You can freely transport these items to any other planet or area of the virtual world. There, you can use, manipulate or trade them just as easily as on their planet of origin.
Together, all these items and activities form the basis of the in-game economy.
In the 19 years since it first appeared EU has grown massively. Today, that world is vast, and now consists of 6 planets, 2 moons, space stations, asteroids and several other areas. As the world has grown, so too have all the other elements of the game.
And as the game has grown, so have the number of ways that you can profit.
Terminals
The game uses a system of terminals to perform certain functions. I’ll just mention some of the terminals relevant to this article:
The Trade Terminal
The trade terminal (often called TT) allows you to purchase certain basic items from Mindark at fixed, standard prices. It also lets you sell any tradeable item to Mindark at a fixed, standard price. Players call this price the TT value.
You can choose to sell these items to other players, instead of the TT. If you have a willing buyer, you can sell your items at a premium to the TT value. This is called mark-up.
You usually sell to the TT when mark-ups are low, or the auction cost exceeds the potential mark-up. Or when you don’t want to engage in player-to-player selling.
The Auctioneer
Mostly, this terminal appears in the game in the form of an NPC (Non-Player Character). It does exactly what you imagine; it lets you sell your goods to the highest bidder, and also allows you to buy items offered by others. You can compete for an item by outbidding other buyers. If the seller sets a buyout price, you can pay it and buy the item outright before the auction ends.
The Construction Machine
With this, you can manufacture or craft hundreds of different things. To craft an item, you must have its blueprint in your possession. You need to own the materials and have the requisite skills specified by the blueprint.
Ways to Earn Money in Entropia Universe
As we cover the different ways to earn money in Entropia Universe, the degree of play activity required for each method should become evident. Some of the more profitable methods do not require any gameplay at all. Depending on the method that you want to pursue, you can approach EU as a game, an investment or as a business – or all three.
We’ll start with the activities that generally have the lowest income potential and work up to the highest.
1. Walking for Fruit Stones and Dung
Although anyone can do this, it is more suitable for new players who will likely spend several days, if not weeks, exploring their planet. Doing so on foot instead of using a vehicle makes it possible to find many kinds of fruits and stones, as well as dung.
You can combine fruits with a substance called SweetStuff, to produce Nutrio Bars. These can be fed to pets. You can use dung to produce Energized Fertilizer, which Land Area owners use to manage wildlife on their lands. With different stones you can create different textures which customize the appearance of various items.
The TT value for these items is usually less than 1 PEC but you can sell these to other players for a few PED, depending on the quantities.
There is a demand for all of these, but they are worth little, and appear infrequently. They are small bonuses, and not really a steady income stream.
2. Sweating
Most animal creatures in Entropia Universe contain Vibrant Sweat, a substance which you can collect using a free tool called a Vibrant Sweat Extractor. Like the fruits and dung, the TT value for Vibrant Sweat is negligible, but you can sell it to other players for between 1 and 2 PED per 1000 bottles.
It is possible for a single player to sweat a weak creature single-handed and not die too often. But sweating is much more effective when groups of players form ‘sweat circles’ to sweat larger, more dangerous creatures. If done properly, you can collect 1000 bottles of sweat in less than 1 hour. Anyone can form or join a sweat circle, and it is possible to socialize with other players while sweating.
Sweat Circle
Sweat circle surrounding a Kerberos near Boreas teleporter on Planet Calypso
On Planet Calypso, you will usually find sweat circles near the Boreas, OLA 42, Royal Club and Nea’s Place teleporters. You may have to discover these teleporters yourself, by exploring the game, or you could get someone to take you to them in a vehicle. When you visit the teleporters for the first time they appear on your map and become permanently accessible to you.
Sweating is a low-earning activity but can be fun for beginners and is a more consistent form of income than walking for fruits.
3. Collecting Oil from the Rig
One of the easiest ways to earn PEDs in Entropia Universe used to be in the Orthos oil field on Calypso. Players could queue at the oil rig and, every few minutes or so, the rig would release some crude oil, which the player at the front of the queue could collect.
You can produce oil by refining crude oil. Vehicles in the game use oil as a fuel, so you can easily sell it to other players.
Unfortunately, Mindark closed the Orthos rig down. The other oil rig on Calypso is near Ashi, and is guarded by strong players. They usually kill weaker players that try to approach it.
An oil rig also exists on Planet Arkadia. There is no queuing system, so it’s a case of the prize going to whoever is the quickest to react. Oratan creatures patrol this rig and will attack players who get too close to them. Luckily they are easy to avoid.
On Rocktropia there are several options:
Though not a rig, crude oil drops frequently at the docks behind the Gas-and-Go gas station. The Motorhead beer garden works like a rig but drops beer kegs instead of oil. The oil rig in Hunt The Thing also drops oil. In all cases, the value of the oil and kegs dropped on Rocktropia is only about 1 PEC at a time, which is much less than the rigs on Arkadia and Calypso.
On Planet Toulan there is no oil rig, but the fountain inside the Temple does something similar. It releases Nawa Drops which you can collect and sell.
4. Use PED-Paying Websites
There are several websites which will reward you with small amounts of PED for listening to online radio, watching videos and performing other simple tasks. You can use the proceeds from these to buy cheap dividend-paying deeds and shares, or to fund other elements of your gameplay.
Entropia Partners was the first to do this. This site has been operating and paying reliably for many years, and is still the most trusted one. It offers several ways to earn PEDs, but the easiest is probably to let its radio run all day long and it will pay out 1 PEC every 15 – 20 minutes or so. It is a small amount, but it does add up, especially when combined with other opportunities on the site.
To receive a PED payment from Entropia Partners, look for the signal on the website which indicates that an avatar that can process payments is online at Planet Calypso or Planet Arkadia, then request the payment. The avatar will ask you to meet him at a location in the game. On Calypso, this is usually Camp Icarus. The avatar will initiate a player-to-player trade with your own avatar and pay you.
Payments from similar websites work on the same principle. They will all pay out from inside Entropia Universe, never directly from the website to you.
5. Profit by Buying Low and Selling High
If you don’t want to deposit money into the game, you can use PED that you can earn from the preceding methods to buy low-cost game items and re-sell them for a profit.
Sometimes players don’t want to sell their items at low TT prices but do so because auction fees would erase any profit they might make. Sometimes they just don’t want to spend much time trading player-to-player themselves. Buying directly from these players and selling directly to others is an opportunity for you to profit.
It takes time, and you will need to know which items are the best to buy for re-selling. You should also know what the going prices are for the items that you expect to trade, but you can make money this way. As you build up your funds and expertise, you can start trading higher-value items to make bigger profits.
Twin Peaks and Camp Icarus are the main trading spots on Calypso for one-on-one trading.
As a trader, you should also make sure to join the #trade chat channel. Here, you can advertise your offers for free to any other channel member, wherever they are in the game.
6. Become a Pirate
In Entropia Universe it is possible to attack and kill other players, and to loot them of their possessions.
Looting other players in Entropia Universe can only happen within Lootable PvP (Player vs. Player) areas. Even within these areas, you can only loot certain things. These are known as stackable items. Non-stackable items are not lootable. This means that many things like your PED, deeds, weapons, armor, vehicles, pets, clothing and equipment are safe. They can never be taken from you.
Nevertheless, the value of your stackables can be significant, and it is possible to suffer a big loss. Fortunately, the game warns you when you enter a lootable PvP area. There are ways to protect yourself from looting and, if you are looted, you will usually only have yourself to blame.
Opportunities to loot players in terrestrial PvP zones are very limited. In space, though, it is a different story.
The area in the immediate vicinity of a planet’s space station is a safe zone, but the area beyond this is lootable PvP. Travelling to another planet forces players to move through this area, where they are at the mercy of space pirates.
Pirates are rightfully despised by most players, but piracy is an accepted feature of the game. If you have the right set of personal traits (i.e. you don’t have a conscience), you may want to consider becoming a pirate.
To become a pirate, you will need a vehicle called a Quad-Wing Interceptor equipped with a weapon and a Space Thruster, some oil for fuel, ammo, and you’re ready to go. Socialize with some pirates for more information.
7. Hunting Mining and Crafting
These are the core activities in Entropia Universe, but most beginners are unlikely to turn a profit by doing any of these. That’s because there is a surplus of low mark-up items in the game. Large numbers of low-level players produce these items, and the law of supply and demand forces their prices down.
You can make money with these occupations, but only by carefully and patiently targeting specific, high mark-up items.
8. Sell Your Skills
There are more than 150 individually-defined skills that all Entropia players can acquire. Almost every activity that a player participates in will result in a fractional improvement in one or more of those skills.
It takes players many months and years to improve their skills, but players with deep pockets can short-cut this process by buying skills that other players have acquired.
To sell your own skills, transfer the relevant skill to a corresponding Skill Implant, then sell the implant to the buyer. Note that your own skills will reduce by the value of the skills that you sell.
9. Operate a Space Transport Service
Space travel in Entropia Universe is dangerous, and you run the risk of losing your stackable items if pirates attack you. A safer and faster way to travel in space is by using a mothership.
Motherships are large spacecraft that can carry multiple passengers, and have much better defenses against pirates. The downside is that they exist in limited numbers, and are expensive to buy and to operate. They have crews which must be paid, and suffer damage which must be repaired.
Entropia Universe Mothership
The mothership Normandie (top right) parked near Calypso Space Station.
Motherships have warp capability, which means that you reach your destination within a minute or so, compared to the 15 – 40 minutes that it takes using other vehicles capable of space travel.
These are the reasons why most mothership operators charge a fee for their services. This is usually not more than 20 PED.
In our view, there are currently more motherships in the game than there is demand for transport services but, if you can offer something unique to travelers, you can carve out a little business for yourself.
You can also offer terrestrial and inter-planetary taxi services using much cheaper, and slower, Sleipnir or Quad-Wing Interceptor vehicles. Since you can only take one passenger at a time and offer little protection against pirates, demand is erratic. Realistically, you cannot charge more than 2 – 3 PED for a trip.
10. Become a Merchant
If you enjoy the trading aspect of Entropia Universe, you could consider buying a stall, or a shop in an apartment block or shopping mall. Here, you will be able to offer items that are permanently available for sale, not only when you are online.
A Shop in a Mall
You can earn money playing Entropia Universe by owning a shop like this one.
These come in different forms and sizes. And their prices vary according to their size, location and the number of items that they can hold. You could pay around 5,000 PED for an open stall, or 20,000 PED or more for a corner shop in a busy mall.
You can stock these shops with goods that you produce or loot, or you can reach agreements with other players to sell their goods to you at favorable prices.
Note that owning such a shop will require a good deal of involvement from you, and is not necessarily a ticket to print money. I do not advise new players to dive into owning a shop until they have gained some experience in the game.
11. Buy and Sell Virtual Property
The idea that you can pay money to own a property that only exists inside a game world may be foreign to some. However, if you consider that many gamers are prepared to pay hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars for rare or desirable game items, then the idea of buying a virtual property seems a lot less strange.
Apartments and houses are popular among the Universe’s citizens. Long-time players inevitably find themselves owning many more game items that they can easily carry or store, and owning an apartment or house gives them additional storage options.
You can also personalize a property that you own with furniture and decorations according to your taste.
Generally, “living quarters” such as apartments, houses or penthouses do not generate any income but, buying one at the right price allows you to sell it later and realize a profit.
12. Profit and Earn Dividends From Deeds and Shares
This is one of the best, safest and easiest ways to earn money in Entropia Universe.
Calypso Land Deeds
When the game first launched, Planet Calypso had one continent – called Eudoria.
To increase the playable area of the planet, Mindark developed a new continent called Amathera. To fund this development, they created 60,000 Calypso Land Deeds (CLDs) which they offered to players at 1,000 PED ($100) each.
The deeds are tradeable, and the first buyers profited handsomely as they quickly doubled in value. The price of CLDs has since stabilized, and lately it stays within a fairly narrow range.
Mindark shares 50% of the revenue from the expanded planet area with CLD owners. Distributions are weekly, and the payout is seldom less than 2.5 PED per deed. This can grow by 30% – 40% during special events that Mindark stages several times a year, when revenues increase substantially.
Depending on what you pay for deeds, a return of 6% – 8% or more per year is realistic.
Other Deeds
The Arkadia Underground came about in a similar way. Arkadia Underground Deeds (AUDs) were once a relatively affordable 50 PED ($5), but have risen around 40% in value. Distributions are daily, and AUD owners can expect annual returns in the 5% to 6% range.
The most recent development is Arkadia Moon. Arkadia Moon Deed distributions will commence after all of the available deeds have been sold.
Some players own several deeds, and use the dividend income to fund their gameplay. Since they can sell the deeds when they decide to leave the game, playing Entropia Universe would have effectively cost them nothing. They can even turn a profit if the deeds increased in value.
Entropia Stock Exchange
Shares are a new development in Entropia Universe. They are similar to deeds, but managed differently in the game.
The owner of Crystal Palace recently offered to sell a number of shares in this virtual property. These became the first shares to list and trade on the newly-created Entropia Stock Exchange.
Dividends are distributed weekly, and the annual return is around 5% at the moment.
Some of the other planets and areas in the game are also expected to list on the exchange soon.
You Can Still Lose Money
CLDs and AUDs have turned out to be great investments for many people. But, you should not assume this will be the case for all deeds and shares.
For example, some years back Mindark developed a new game called ComPet, which was inspired by Entropia’s pets. It was meant to have innovative features which would link it and its pets to Entropia Universe.
Just as it did with CLDs, Mindark funded this development by offering ComPet deeds to the player community.
Unfortunately, the game flopped. ComPet deeds became worthless overnight and those who held them lost most of the PED they paid for them. Yours truly included. Luckily, I only owned 5, so the hit I took was not too serious.
Having said that, CLDs and AUDs are my favorite ways to make money in Entropia Universe.
13. Buy and Manage a Land Area
Entropia Universe has made headline news a number of times since its launch, and the most prominent of these headlines covered virtual properties in the game, which changed hands for several hundred thousand dollars each.
One of these properties is the Crystal Palace space station which was bought for $330,000 in 2009. It is still owned by the same avatar, Buzz Erik Lightyear, who continues to receive income from revenues generated by player activity on the station.
Although opportunities to buy such large and expensive properties in the game are few and far between, many smaller, less expensive properties are regularly offered for sale. These revenue-generating properties are known as Land Areas, and are one example of how you could run a business inside Entropia Universe.
As a Land Area owner, you receive a portion of the revenues generated by players on your land by setting taxes for activities like hunting and mining.
You get to decide which creatures are most likely to lure hunters to your Land Area, and then populate your lands accordingly. Then you need to attract hunters and miners through advertising, or by scheduling events on your land.
You could also consider buying a shopping mall. Shopping Malls are a form of Land Area, except that income is derived from shopping taxes instead of hunting and mining.
Just like any business, if it is managed well, a Land Area can generate regular income and become an asset that increases in value over time. Make poor decisions, though, and it could easily become a costly mistake.
Land Area ownership is not something that I would advise inexperienced players to dive into.
A Land Area, when offered for sale, is likely to cost the buyer upwards of $10,000 (100,000 PED).
14. Buy A Bank
The first banks in Entropia Universe were created in 2007 when Mindark auctioned five virtual banking licenses for a total amount exceeding $400,000.
Banks in Entropia Universe
Banks like this one in Port Atlantis lend PED to players – for a fee
Banks in Entropia Universe lend PED to players at an interest rate set by the bank owner, and use some of the players’ virtual items as collateral for the loans. To get a feel for how players interact with banks, visit NeverDie Bank at Port Atlantis, which is easily accessible for newbies.
Running a bank in Entropia Universe requires much less effort than maintaining a Land Area. Like deeds and shares, it is a good way to earn passive income.
Because Mindark controls the number of banks in Entropia Universe, and keeps the number low, your only realistic chance of owning a bank is to buy one from another player. Bring lots of money.
That’s Not All
There are many more ways to make money in the game. A few examples are pet taming, healing and hair-styling, but they either require you to have significant skill levels, or the demand for the services is inconsistent, which is why we did not list them.
How Much Money Can You Earn in Entropia Universe?
This depends on several things, and should be a bit clearer if you saw the 14 ways that we listed earlier. If you don’t want to put any money into the game you will have to spend time with the first 4 or 5 activities.
Once you build up some PED you can invest in shares or deeds. These will regularly earn PED for you while you do nothing further. Re-invest your dividends to earn faster. Or you can trade one-to-one with increasingly higher-value items, or a bigger range.
This approach will cost a lot of game time and effort but, with time, you can eventually find yourself within reach of some of the more lucrative opportunities.
If you put money into the game, you can dive straight into some of the higher-earning methods. AUDs and CLDs are good options. Heed the cautionary words I expressed about experience before you commit to some of the more expensive opportunities.
In any case, none of the methods I mentioned will make you rich very quickly. Even if something like a Land Area or bank brings in good amounts of PED from the beginning, it will likely still take a couple of years before you break even and start making a profit.
Cashing Out
To withdraw your funds from Entropia Universe you must have a bank account that accepts international payments.
The minimum amount that you can withdraw is $100. Mindark will deduct a withdrawal fee of 1% with a minimum of $10 US (100 PED). Bear in mind that your bank will probably charge you a fee too.
Withdrawals can be in any one of 8 currencies. These are Dollars (US, Australian and Canadian), Euros, and the 3 Scandinavian Krone/Krona currencies.
The withdrawal process can take quite a long time before you receive your money. If Mindark approves your withdrawal, and your bank account details are correct, it takes about 50 business days.
Mindark say that this is to lower the risk of chargebacks, as most deposits are made with credit cards, but withdrawals are paid directly into bank accounts. You can read more about the withdrawal process on their withdrawal FAQ page.
Consequences of Account Inactivity
Mindark will treat your account as abandoned, and will terminate it if you do not log into it at least once within 365 days. This can have serious consequences for you, especially if you own a lot of PED or other items of value. If your account is terminated you will lose everything that it contains.
Make sure that you read and understand Mindark’s Terms of Use regarding inactive and terminated accounts. There are valid reasons why Mindark takes this position, and it is not because they are dishonest and trying to deprive you of your funds.
Mobile Apps
There are two mobile apps that would interest Entropia Universe players and investors.
Entropia Pocket
It is not uncommon for players and participants in Entropia Universe to own thousands of dollars’ worth of PED and other game items, so rock-solid security is a must.
The Entropia Pocket app was made by Mindark and enables secure 2 Factor Authentication as an additional security measure when logging into the game. It is essential if you plan to earn money, or own anything of value in Entropia Universe.
It is a free app and is available for Android as well as IOS.
Virtual Tycoon
If you ever need to access Entropia Universe when you’re away from your PC, you can do so from your Android smartphone or tablet using the free Virtual Tycoon app.
Entropia Universe only works on a Windows PC, so you cannot access the full game by using the app. You won’t be able to hunt, mine or explore the landscape using Virtual Tycoon, for example.
But, the app lets you access the Auction, Construction and Storage terminals.
It is useful for bidding in auctions, or for killing time by crafting when you’re away from your PC, and are unable to access the full game. You can also make deposits or withdrawals, see certain notifications, and view your skills and professions.
Conclusion
Entropia Universe is a legitimate, safe and great alternative way to earn varying amounts of money, according to your level of commitment.
You can either immerse yourself in the full game, or you can hold back and only involve yourself with its investment aspect. It is completely up to you.
I have been a fan of Entropia Universe for several years, and not only because I can earn money in the game, although I do own some revenue-generating assets.
Having said that, it is not my favorite way to make money online. Do you want to know what that is?
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You can also Earn PED by using external websites like PlayPointGames.
True, and I mentioned Entropia Partners as an example of such a website. I’m not familiar with the one you mentioned though. I’ll try to check it out soon.