CCP accepts submissions from players for advertisements that will appear on the in-game billboards. These billboards are displayed prominently in all stations as well as in space around stargates and outside station undocks. It is important that anyone wishing to submit a billboard advertisement read this entire article to make sure they understand CCP’s requirements.
Billboard Guidelines
There are two sets of guidelines all billboards must comply with; Technical Requirements and Content Rules.
Technical Requirements
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.WEBM format
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1024x576 resolution at 30fps
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Minimum 10 second duration, maximum 20 seconds
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Maximum file size of 6MB
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No sound
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Don’t add any holographic scanline effects as seen on current billboard ads – we take care of this.
If submissions do not meet the technical requirements they will be rejected immediately before even moving on to the content rules.
Content Rules
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Use of in-game vision is allowed but must not show the UI.
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Use of in-game assets such as character portraits, alliance logos or assets created by CCP is permitted. We discourage the use of clips from EVE trailers as the repetitive use of the same footage may lead to a lack of distinctiveness in player advertisements.
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All non-EVE/CCP assets used must be completely original. Use of copyrighted material (even where heavily modified) is not acceptable, except where copyright is owned by the submitter.
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Advertisements must not use real world references to game concepts - eg. “PvP”/“PvE”/”players”. These billboards aren’t being presented to the players of the worlds greatest science fiction MMO - they’re being shown to the citizens who inhabit New Eden. As such please find more creative ways of expressing these real-world gaming ideas in a way that fits within the context of the EVE universe:
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Rather than “PvE” an Incursion community might say “Get paid to help us fight against the Sansha incursion.”.
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Instead of “PvP” a mercenary corporation might say “Sign on to fight and earn ISK.”.
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Rather than “players” a nullsec alliance might say “Join thousands of other capsuleers on the frontiers of New Eden!”.
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References to activities that make sense within the game world are ok though - eg. “industry”, “mining”, “exploration”.
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- Advertisements must not make references to real world concepts or specific languages or countries - e.g. “USTZ”, “German-speaking corporation”, “EVE Italia”
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That said, the advertisement may be presented in any language you wish as long as it also conforms to the other content guidelines.
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Advertisements must not include URLs, Discord links or references to other services that exist outside the client (eg. Twitch, Youtube etc).
- Advertisements may refer people to in-game chat channels and entities, e.g.:
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Join [in-game channel name] to talk to a recruiter.
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Search [corporation name] to apply for membership.
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Send mail to [character name] to find out more.
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In the case this clashes with the previous rule - eg. your in-game channel for Esperanto-speaking players named “EVE-Esperanto” which has existed for several years - then you can refer to that when mentioning your channel name.
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- For events specifically:
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All times mentioned must be in New Eden Standard Time (i.e. UTC/Reykjavik time - the time shown in the client).
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Days and months can be expressed in real world terms (e.g. March 26 or 29 July)
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If required, the actual real-world year must not be used. Instead, you should use the relevant in-game year. (eg. 2023 should be expressed as YC125). You can find more information about that here.
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If applicable, common standards for the dignified representation of race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, religion or ability as well as other marginalized groups must be applied.
Submissions
Once you have completed your advertisement please upload it to a cloud filesharing service such as Google Drive or Dropbox and email the link to communityteam@ccpgames.com with the subject 'Billboard Submission'. In the body of the email please include your in-game character name and a brief description of what your advertisement is in support of along with any relevant links. If your advertisement is for a public event please also be sure to include the date of the event so that, if accepted, we can see if our deployment schedule will be suitable for the event’s scheduled date. We encourage public event organisers to get their submissions in well in advance.
Cadence and Volume
All accepted submissions will be added to a pool of viable advertisements. Every month - timed to coincide with our regular monthly deployments - we will add new player-created advertisements to the in-game billboard rotation and remove the previous batch. Advertisements that have not already been shown will be given priority for the next rotation. Advertisements that have already been exhibited will go into a standby pool which we will draw from at our discretion should we not have enough eligible ads for the next rotation. After 6 months any ads in the standby pool will be removed permanently and players will have to resubmit them. This is because occasionally advertisements will become out of date if organizations close or change their focus.
Additional Notes
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Because of the prominence of these advertisements within the game, our standards for player-created advertisements will be very high. CCP will apply a rigorous vetting process and it’s possible some submissions will be rejected. In those cases, we will communicate why we have done so and provide an opportunity for creators to incorporate feedback and resubmit. Ultimately though we may decide that an advertisement may not be appropriate to be shown within the client. Please understand that this could be the outcome of any submission. In short: if refusal would cause offense, then perhaps reconsider submitting at all. That said we know the EVE community possesses an incredible amount of talent and we look forward to seeing your excellent submissions!
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Do not attempt to use this service to facilitate a scam or anything that might negatively impact the enjoyment of other players or deprive them of their wealth or assets. The additional credibility that comes with having your advertisement featured on official in-game billboards in such a case may reflect badly on CCP Games and EVE Online. Should someone submit an advertisement which is accepted but was part of a design to cause harm to bona fide players we will take the most serious disciplinary action we can against all accounts of the responsible party.
Examples Of Acceptable Advertisements