Fans of space-based video game EVE Online have helped set a new record after achieving the Guinness World Records title for the Most concurrent players simultaneously involved in a single multiplayer PvP videogame battle.

A total of 6,142 players took part in an enormous battle - the Siege of 9-4 - in January 2018 with the certificate being presented to the game's creators at EVE's Fanfest event in Iceland on Saturday (14 April).

Produced by CCP Games, EVE Online is a space-based massive multiplayer online role-playing game in which thousands of players build ships, trade and, when the situation merits, go to war. 

It's particularly known for events such as the Siege of 9-4 where its legions of players get together in the same time and at the same place to take part in huge battles.

EVE Online

Speaking at the ceremony where EVE Online received its certificate, CCP Games' CEO, Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, said: "Our purpose has always been to create the most compelling virtual worlds possible, for our players to engage with and fight over – to push the boundaries of what technology can do, and how we interact with each other through that technology.

"Fifteen years ago we embarked on a journey with our players that that to this days explores concepts like social order, obligation, money, and how we interact as groups, organizations, institutions, and individuals with these concepts." 

Svenni Guard, CCP Games' Senior Community Development Lead, praised the efforts of the game's fans. 

"Our community is at the very core of what we do, and this award is theirs, we provide the sandbox, and they do all of these amazing things in it. Your battles pushed technology to its very limits; your wars blazed a trail across the stars. At the Siege of 9-4, you broke records, and Guinness World Records has acknowledged this. This award is yours; we're just its stewards," Svenni Guard.

Fans also posted detailed reports and interviews about their individual roles in the battle.

EVE online certificate