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'Eve Online' studio acquired by Korean MMO maker
Eve Online developer CCP Games has been acquired by Pearl Abyss, the South Korean studio behind the action-oriented MMORPG Black Desert Online. According to VentureBeat, the deal was worth $425 million and will close in early October. It's a surprise announcement for CCP, which has long operated as an independent developer. Eve Online isn't the biggest MMORPG on the market, but it has maintained a steady and loyal userbase through continuous updates and a well-timed switch to a hybrid premium and free-to-play model. The 15-year-old game is unique, too, with its large-scale battles and notoriously complex economic and political systems.
‘EVE Online’ crowdsourced science data will soon be publicly available
In March 2016, space MMO EVE Online added the Project Discovery minigame which let players classify proteins in their downtime to help researchers. After collecting data for over two years, the project's team recently uploaded it to the publicly-available Human Protein Atlas database for scientists to use all over the world.
'Eve Online' turns 15 today, and its history is epic
Today is the 15th anniversary of the legendarily fascinating virtual world EVE Online, a massively multiplayer spaceship game that has become famous for the incredible stories that sometimes emerge from the community about heists and wars between thousands of players. EVE is so interesting that it even has its own historian, Andrew Groen, a video game writer formerly of Wired who studies the politics and sociology at work in EVE's virtual community over its 15-year history. Groen raised $95,729 from a Kickstarter campaign to independently publish his first book, Empires of EVE: A History of the Great Wars of EVE Online, which has now sold 17,000 copies worldwide and is in its third printing. He's currently Kickstarting a sequel which has already brought in more than $115,000 in support and concludes this week. Empires of EVE is half Star Wars, half Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. It is a true and fact-checked account of what happened inside EVE Online from the years 2003-2009 as player factions began to accumulate power and eventually wage a years-long war between more than 50,000 real players. It's a space opera that takes place on our own internet, and all the characters are 2003 internet users attempting to build their own digital fiefdom. The excerpt that follows is chapter four of Empires of EVE, and takes place near the beginning of the story.
‘Eve Online’ is going mobile next year with ‘Project Aurora’
Popular space MMO Eve Online has been doing pretty well lately, bringing a massive map, galactic trade economies and the vastness of space to players over its 14-year history. It's made several moves to keep folks interested in its PC-based game title, too. Developer CCP Games has made Eve Online free to download and play while also allowing players to participate in finding exoplanets in real life. Now the team is partnering with mobile game developer PlayRaven to bring Eve Online-style multiplayer action to mobile devices. Dubbed "Project Aurora," the upcoming title for iOS and Android is set to launch later in 2018.
EVE Online starts putting players to work finding exoplanets
EVE Online has finally launched the Project Discovery mini-game it announced earlier this year, and you know what that means? You can now defend all the hours you spend in the game by telling your mom or SO that you're helping the scientific community find exoplanets. EVE has uploaded real astronomical data from the CoRoT space observatory that you can analyze within the mini-game as a pilot -- once enough players reach the same conclusion on the data's classification, that piece of info will be sent to the University of Geneva for a deeper look.
'EVE Online' is crowdsourcing the search for real exoplanets
EVE Online players will help scientists look for other planets from the comfort of their computer desks later this year. The game's developer, CCP Games, is teaming up with Massively Multiplayer Online Science (MMOS), the University of Reykjavik and the University of Geneva to crowdsource space exploration within EVE's virtual universe.
Free-to-play is coming to the space MMO 'EVE Online'
After over a decade with a straight subscription model, the massively multiplayer space RPG EVE: Online is adding a free-to-play tier. While paid accounts will still exist for new and old players alike, the new free accounts will give gamers basic access to the vast EVE universe, "New Eden." It's been surprising how long EVE developer CCP has held out on free-to-play. New Eden may have been home to some of the most famous conflicts in video game history, but that hasn't stopped subscribers leaving in droves. Introduced in 2003, the game peaked with 500,000 subscribers in 2013 (the last time CCP gave official figures). From comparing activity logs and historical player figures, the current subscriber count is likely less than half of that peak.
Duel your friends 'Tron'-style in 'Project Arena' VR
Project Arena is a full-body VR game that pits two players against each other in a Tron-esque light-disc battle. It was born from Icelandic developer CCP's "VR Labs," an initiative of experimentation and iteration in which teams are free to create lots of working concepts before working out which can become full games. Project Arena has already passed the first test -- it morphed into the "project" phase this year from the concept phase last year (when it was called Disc Arena).
'EVE Online' now rewards you for helping science
At last, playing a ton of EVE Online can do a lot of good in the real world. As promised, the massively multiplayer space title now includes a Project Discovery minigame that has you contributing to real science. If you offer to classify proteins in between space flights, you'll both help scientists understand the proteins' roles in the human body (especially relating to disease) and earn in-game rewards ranging from ISK currency to loyalty points. You don't have to be a paying EVE subscriber to participate, so it won't hurt to give the project a go if you're eager to advance medicine while you explore the virtual cosmos.
EVE Online's new minigame puts players to work, for science
EVE Online is probably best known as the hardcore space sim where huge quantities of real money (say, about $1,500) can be lost at the drop of a hat. It's a pretty unique accolade, but developer CCP is working on a better one -- if everything goes as planned, EVE Online will soon be known as the hardcore space sim where players devote thousands of man-hours to science by contributing to the Human Protein Atlas.
'Gunjack,' a VR space shooter that puts you in the cockpit
You're sitting in the pilot seat of a cutting-edge spacecraft outfitted with two heavy-duty turrets. The inky universe expands around you and begins to populate with enemy ships: You pull the triggers and shoot them down, gathering new ammunition for more coordinated, deadly attacks and powering up your craft. This is Gunjack, a new virtual reality game from Eve Online and Eve Valkyrie developer CCP, created specifically for the Samsung Gear VR. It's an arcade shooter (think more Star Wars Battle Pod than Space Invaders) set in the Eve universe, and it's due out in the fall.
Commercial Reality: Why the man behind EVE Online is betting on VR while others aren't
Hilmar Pétursson is convinced virtual reality gaming will be mainstream in 2014. It's a bold claim to put to people who, by next year, will have been exhausted by next-gen console purchases. But Pétursson has already tasked 20 engineers at his company, CCP, with creating what looks set to be the first major game designed solely for the Oculus Rift VR headset. EVE Valkyrie is a high-profile commitment: a Wing Commander-esque dogfighting title, which will tie into the same universe as CCP's main PC and console properties, EVE Online and Dust 514. The question is whether significant numbers of gamers will choose to spend an estimated $300 on a pair of Oculus goggles. For a number of reasons -- some immediate, some futuristic and others downright outlandish -- Pétursson believes they'll come up with the money. They won't be able to stop themselves.
CCP's Oculus Rift demo becomes EVE: Valkyrie, space dogfighting due in 2014 (video)
We've been waiting for a proper Wing Commander successor for ages and it looks like EVE: Valkyrie could be it -- if you don't count Star Citizen, that is. What was originally demoed as EVR back at EVE Fanfest and on the Oculus Rift at E3 is now a multiplayer space dogfighter set within developer CCP's longstanding EVE Online universe. Details are as scarce as Megacyte, but, according to the Icelandic dev, it's coming out in 2014. It's a sure lock for a PC release, but CCP's history with the PS3 EVE spin-off Dust 514 and Sony's amoré for the Rift makes us wonder if consoles are in its future. Hopefully this means we'll be able to play on PS4 at some point, but instead of holding our breath, we'll just keep watching the trailer below on repeat.
EVE Online creator CCP revving up for mobile release
Touch Arcade recently had a chat with CCP, the Icelandic developer behind the popular MMO EVE Online, and while there aren't any announcements yet, it certainly sounds like they're gearing up for some iOS apps, or even maybe a client for the game itself. EVE's been on the Mac for a while now, and there have been some third-party attempts at bringing parts of the game to iOS. But CCP has just released a companion game called Dust 514 on the PS3, and that means it's probably time they start thinking about tying in iOS and other popular mobile platforms as well. There's an app called Neocom coming from CCP to the PS Vita, and Executive Producer John Lander calls that app a "tracer bullet" to see if the community's interested in more mobile offerings. Neocom allows players to customize their weapons and buy and sell virtual goods for the game, and that seems like an excellent set of functionality to bring over to iOS as well. Lander says that there are lots and lots of possibilities, and that CCP is planning on stepping up development this year, hopefully moving towards lots of little projects with quicker turnarounds. At any rate, there's something coming from CCP for sure. "This time next year, you will have EVE Mobile in your hand," Lander told assembled fans at a recent company gathering.
EVE Online dev reveals Oculus Rift-based space dogfighting 'experience' (update: video!)
It's not clear if Icelandic game studio CCP is extending its crazy MMO, EVE Online, into the world of virtual reality, but the company is working on some form of EVE-based VR application using the Oculus Rift. CCP teased the concept during the keynote event at its Fanfest event this afternoon, showing off what looked like a modern Wing Commander-style space shooter set in the world of EVE (similar to the first-person shooter extension on PlayStation 3, Dust 514), built using the Unity game engine. EVE fansite The Mittani notes from a hands-on demonstration at Fanfest that the game is currently 3v3 dogfighting employing the VR headset and an unnamed "console-style game controller." Sadly, it sounds like the project is little more than an internal curiosity at this point, but color us unsurprised if this pops up in a more polished form down the line. We'll add a video of CCP's presentation to this post as soon as it goes live -- we were marveled by the gorgeous visuals and gameplay promise of a space shooter which employs VR. Several games are currently in development for the Oculus Rift, and Valve's Team Fortress 2 already supports the device. However, the headset that's currently available is a development kit, and not meant as representative of the final retail product. Update: We've added the video from Fanfest below the break!
NYC Museum of Modern Art opens game collection with 14 classics, exhibiting in March 2013
Given the subject matter, this is usually where the author waxes philosophical about whether -- having been accepted by a major international museum -- games are indeed "art." We're gonna skip that needless exercise today and simply tell you that the New York City Museum of Modern Art is officiating its intake of 14 video game classics as the start of an ongoing gaming collection, set to go on display in March 2013 in the MoMA's Philip Johnson Architecture and Design Galleries -- the same galleries that house an original iPod and more. The games range from Buckner & Garcia inspiration Pac-Man to modern classic Portal, and even includes some lesser known gems (vib-ribbon, anyone?). The MoMA blog calls this initial selection just the "seedbed" for a chunkier collection of around 40 titles, all of which will be part of a "new category of artworks" at the iconic museum. Head below for the full first 14.
Griefing and self-governance in online games
The Guardian has produced an excellent column that addresses the problem of "griefers", people that abuse, team-kill and cheat other players of online games, particularly MMOs. Griefing has always been a problem where real players compete against their peers, although with massively multiplayer online games the problem has become much more serious. Earning a battleship in Eve Online or crafting a special item in World of Warcraft can take weeks if not months of game time. On top of that, the recent trend for people to sell items on auction sites like eBay has meant that rare online items have a monetary value.The article cites several high profile situations where griefers have bent moral codes with the Guiding Hand Social Club's ruination of Ubiqua Seraph in Eve Online and the funeral crash in WoW being the two main examples. Solutions that companies have come up with to limit these types of situations from happening are also looked at with the Xbox Live points system and strong community measures (like guilds and friend lists) being top on the list of letting players self-govern the problem. Effective community governance is essential if companies want to keep players inside the game and so that the owners don't have to resort to more drastic measures, like Blizzard does with its periodic account banning binges.Update: fixed a couple of minor grammatical errors.
PC impressions: EVE Online
Three years after its launch, EVE Online has racked up 100,000 players and a dedicated fanbase. Developer CCP is in the midst of a graphical revamp, upgrading the game's look and feel without increasing its system requirements. As a game where it takes months to even learn to fly a ship, let alone build it, there's a refreshing contrast to the instant gratification of some other MMOs. Skills are learnt in real-time, rather than based on level, but specialisation options and the power of numbers mean new players can stand alongside older ones.
EVE Online joins the 100K Club
Reaching 100,000 subscribers is no mean feat, and space-based MMO EVE Online is the latest MMO to prove that you don't need swords and sorcery to succeed. This milestone comes after EVE was voted MMORPG.com's favourite game, which must have helped boost numbers.Second Life also managed to hit 100k recently, and EVE offers a similar player-driven experience, although without free accounts. The game is set in one single persistent world, and developer CCP claims the extremely specific crown of "the world PCU (Peak Concurrent Users) record in a persistent, single game universe", with 23,178 users.Joining the "100K Club" (as coined by academic MMO blog Terra Nova) is an important step for both these games, since they are so different from the MMO norm. Additionally, CCP are based in Iceland, which bodes well for the potential success of internationally developed games.
