EVE Online to offer graphics cards in return for PLEX

An arrangement between nVidia and CPP will allow EVE Online players to purchase GeForce 560 GTX graphics cards using in-game currency.

The deal, announced during an EVE Online Fanfest keynote, will see players trading 20 PLEX for the hardware, which costs close to $200 at US retail prices.

Destructoid reports CCP will trial the scheme, with just 100 cards up for grabs to begin with, and may extend the offer if it works well. Players will be able to register for the trade soon.

PLEX is a strange sort of quasi-currency widely traded in EVE Online; it represents blocks of play time, and as such, can be purchased with and is equivalent to real world money, but you can also buy it with ISK, the entirely fictitious in-game currency earned by playing. Players can even lose large quantities of PLEX if ships are destroyed while transporting it.

The price of PLEX in ISK has jumped markedly in response to the announcement.