# What is Entropia Universe? > A science fiction MMO with a real cash economy, where the in-game currency has a fixed exchange rate to real money and everything you own has a real value. Source: https://www.entropiacentral.com/guides/getting-started/what-is-entropia-universe Last updated: 2026-07-30 --- Entropia Universe is a science fiction massively multiplayer online game developed by MindArk PE AB in Sweden. It has been running since 2003, and the thing that makes it unusual is not the setting. It is the economy. There is no subscription and no box price. Instead, the in-game currency is tied to real money at a fixed rate, and every item in the game has a value expressed in that currency. What you own is worth something outside the game, and so is what you spend. ## The real cash economy The currency is the PED, short for Project Entropia Dollar. Its exchange rate is fixed rather than floating: - **10 PED = 1 USD** - **100 PEC = 1 PED** (PEC is used for small amounts, such as the decay on a single shot) You can put real money in, and you can take real money out. That is the defining feature: a deposit converts USD to PED at the fixed rate, and a withdrawal converts PED back. Because the rate does not move, a PED is always a tenth of a dollar, and a piece of equipment worth 500 PED is a piece of equipment worth 50 USD. This changes how the game reads. In most MMOs, currency is a scoreboard and gear is a reward for time spent. Here, ammunition costs money, your weapon wears out as you use it, and the loot you get back is measured against what you spent to get it. Activity in Entropia Universe is closer to running a small business than to grinding a levelling curve. > **The one thing to understand before anything else:** every activity loses value against the trade terminal, for everyone, always. What you recover comes from other players paying above terminal value for what you produce. So the game you are actually playing is against other players in a market, not against the house. [This is an economic game](https://www.entropiacentral.com/guides/economy/the-economic-game) sets that out properly, and it is the most important page in this section. ## What that means in practice A few consequences follow from the economy, and they surprise almost everyone at the start: - **Everything you use is consumed.** Weapons, tools, armour and healing devices lose value as they are used. That loss is called decay, and it is the real cost of playing. See [What decay actually costs you](https://www.entropiacentral.com/guides/economy/decay-and-cost-of-use). - **Loot is a return, not a reward.** Killing a creature returns some value. Over many kills, that return is a percentage of what you spent, and it is always below what you put in before markup is accounted for. See [Reading a return figure](https://www.entropiacentral.com/guides/economy/understanding-returns). - **Items are worth what players will pay.** Almost everything can be sold to another player, and the price is usually above the game's own buyback value. The gap is called markup, and it is where most player profit comes from. See [TT value and markup](https://www.entropiacentral.com/guides/economy/tt-value-and-markup). - **Nothing is soulbound and there are no levels.** Your avatar has skills rather than a character level, and gear is limited by your profession standing rather than by a level requirement. See [How skills work](https://www.entropiacentral.com/guides/avatar/how-skills-work). ## You do not have to deposit Entropia Universe is genuinely free to enter. You can create an avatar, land on a planet and start playing without spending anything. There are activities that cost nothing but time and produce something sellable, and there are ways to build up a small balance from zero. It is slow. It is also real: the PED you earn that way is the same PED everyone else uses. [Playing without depositing](https://www.entropiacentral.com/guides/getting-started/playing-without-depositing) covers what those routes actually are and how far they go. ## One universe, several planets Entropia Universe is a single shared universe containing several planets, each run by its own development partner with its own creatures, missions and storyline. Your avatar is one avatar everywhere: your skills, your items and your PED travel with you between planets, and the auction and economy are largely shared. Planet Calypso is the oldest and the busiest, and it is where most new players start. [The planets](https://www.entropiacentral.com/guides/world/the-planets) covers the rest. ## What this section covers These guides describe the game itself: how skills and professions work, what hunting, mining and crafting involve, and how the economy behind them fits together. They are written for players rather than about this site. If you are looking for how Entropia Central works instead, that lives in the [documentation](https://www.entropiacentral.com/documentation). For the numbers behind a specific weapon, creature or blueprint, use the [wiki](https://www.entropiacentral.com/wiki). > Entropia Central is a fan-operated community platform. It is not affiliated with MindArk PE AB, and nothing here is official.