Wikipedia:Battle of M2-XFE

The Battle of M2-XFE was a massive-scale virtual battle fought in Eve Online, a space-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), which took place on 30 and 31 December 2020. It is currently the largest battle to have occurred in the game with about 23 trillion Interstellar Kredit (ISK) destroyed, an estimated real-world value of $340,000-$350,000 USD.

The virtual battle was fought primarily in the M2-XFE star system. The conflict originated as a fight over a player-controlled space station in that system, owned by the player group Goonswarm Federation. Multiple alliances had been invading systems held by GSF in the latter half of 2020, and this was one of the major battles in this offensive.

Background
EVE Online is a persistent world, massively multiplayer online role playing space trading and combat game. Players control corporations and can form alliances with other players, which in turn can be formed into coalitions. By early 2020, the player coalition known as the Imperium had become one of the largest and most powerful in the game. In July 2020 the majority of the other coalitions in EVE Online banded together into the PAPI mega-coalition and declared war on the Imperium and its allies, invading Imperium-held space in the conflict known as World War Bee II.

Fighting was nearly continuous from July to December 2020 as PAPI took star systems from the Imperium. However, each side was reluctant to commit its sizeable force of 'super-capital' ships to any one battle where they might be destroyed. By the eve of the battle PAPI had conquered the Imperium's outlying regions and had established a foothold in the Imperium's home region, Delve.

First Battle
The battle began on 30 December 2020 when PAPI attempted to complete the second stage of the assault on the Imperium's Keepstar-class citadel 'Big’s Disco Palace' in the M2-XFE star system. By around 00:00 UTC both sides had deployed their fleets of Titans, the largest and most powerful warships in EVE Online, as well as much larger numbers of smaller ships. The second stage of the assault on the Imperium's Keepstar was quickly completed, yet both fleets continued to trade volleys until the server went offline for daily maintenance at 11:00 UTC on 31 December, logging off all participants and ending the battle.

Aftermath
While both sides claimed victory, the destruction was fairly evenly split, unlike the previous battles of Asakai and B-R5RB, and outside commentators evaluated the result as a draw. The Imperium lost 123 Titans to their opponents 128, but lost a greater number of smaller ships. In total, the Imperium lost 12.01 trillion ISK, while their opponents lost 11.47 trillion.

Second Battle
The final stage in the destruction of the Imperium's Keepstar was scheduled to occur on 2 January 2021 and over 12,000 pilots logged in to join the fight. Since many of PAPI's Titans were logged off and invulnerable next to the Keepstar at the end of the first battle, PAPI elected to keep them logged off until the second fight began. This resulted in Imperium forces being logged in and positioned before PAPI attempted to join the fight. PAPI leadership later admitted that this was a serious mistake. PAPI's attempt to log in and jump in their large attacking fleet proved too much for EVE's server to handle, resulting in bizarre glitches: some ships failed to properly jump to M2-XFE, others jumped incorrectly, and others were destroyed only to reappear in PAPI's staging system. This resulted in PAPI arriving piecemeal to the battle, and 165 PAPI Titans were destroyed by the Imperium. Of these, only 75 were destroyed permanently, as server glitches resulted in 90 supposedly destroyed Titans appearing safe in PAPI hangars.