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'EVE Online' now lets anyone play the MMO in a web browser
EVE Online's cloud-based Anywhere platform is finally opening up to all players.
Leaked document indicates Facebook has little insight into how user data is handled
The report casts doubt on the company's ability to comply with privacy regulations.
'EVE Online' will finally get a native Mac app early next year
CCP is releasing a truly native Mac version of 'EVE Online' in 2021, 18 years after the space MMO's debut.
CCP cancels one 'Eve Online' shooter, announces another
CCP Games has given up on its EVE Online-inspired shooter Project Nova, but don't worry, it's now working on... another Eve Online-inspired shooter. In a statement on Reddit, CCP's George Kellion said that the long-awaited Project Nova was getting the chop because its "gameplay experience as presented at EVE Vegas '18 would not have achieved our ambitious goals for this concept."
'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: War of Ascension' reimagines the venerable space MMO for mobile
Complex space sim Eve Online will be 15 years old this year, surviving in a less MMO-friendly market with various spin-offs like Dust 514 and Valkyrie, as well as a free-to-play version. Developer CCP teased a new mobile Eve title last October, and now EVE: War of Ascension is set to launch on iOS and Android sometime later this year.
‘EVE: Valkyrie’ studio is shutting down its VR department
While CCP Games is best known for its space MMO EVE: Online, its VR spin-off game EVE: Valkyrie won praise for its immersive (if limited) gameplay. While the studio had begun to break into other VR titles, including the one-on-one competitive Sparc released for PSVR in August, its virtual reality days are done. Today, news dropped that CCP will dip out of VR development for the next few years and refocus on PC and mobile -- which, unfortunately, means shuttering two of its five global offices.
‘EVE: Valkyrie’ studio's 'Sparc' hits PSVR on August 29th
CCP Games announced last month that it would be following up its popular EVE: Valkyrie VR game with the Tron-like VR sport title Sparc. Today, the studio announced it'll come out for PlayStation VR on August 29th for $30.
Relive 'Tron' disc battles when 'Sparc' launches first on PSVR
Have you wanted to relive Tron's light disc battles through CCP Games' Sparc (aka Project Arena)? You're about to get your chance... although you may have to switch platforms to get it soon. CCP has revealed that Sparc will launch in the third quarter of the year for PlayStation VR. The developer stresses that this is only a temporary exclusive (it's arriving "first" on PSVR), but that still means you'll have to forego any near-term dreams of virtual arena battles on your Vive.
'EVE Online' is now free-to-play
After over 13 years of paid subscriptions, EVE Online's recently revealed free-to-play experiment is now live. In a bid to boost its dwindling player base, CCP's latest expansion allows both new and existing players to explore the EVE universe for free.
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).
Take out space pirates in 'Gunjack' on Oculus Rift and Vive
Gunjack places you in the gunner seat of a spaceship in the EVE universe, battling interstellar crafts as they attempt to infiltrate the mining vessel under your protection -- all in glorious virtual reality. It launched in November alongside the Samsung Gear VR headset, and now it's heading to Oculus Rift and HTC Vive for $10. Gunjack hits PCs for the Rift when the headset begins shipping on March 28th and it'll come to Vive later in 2016.
'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.
This is how Oculus will sell VR to the masses
By Nathan Ingraham and Aaron SouppourisA big question has followed Oculus around since its Rift unveil back in June: How will it persuade the public that virtual reality is ready for primetime? Today we have the answer: Oculus VR has announced that Eve: Valkyrie, CCP's multiplayer dogfighting shooter, will be a pack-in with every pre-order of its upcoming VR headset when it launches in early 2016.
Virtual reality shooter 'Gunjack' is ready for Samsung's Gear VR
Just in time for today's launch of Samsung's consumer Gear VR, developer and publisher CCP is making Gunjack available for the headset. The virtual reality game, powered by Unreal Engine 4, is an arcade shooter that takes places in the EVE sci-fi universe. Once you strap in, you'll play the role of a gun turret operator, with the goal being to protect your mothership from some menacing pirates. In an interview earlier this year, Gunjack's producer told us that the title was different from Valkyrie, CCP's upcoming VR dogfighting simulator, as it required to be developed from the ground-up and with mobile gaming in mind. If you have your shiny new Gear VR all set up, you can grab Gunjack right now from the Oculus store for $10.
'Gunjack' producer on making virtual reality work for mobile
"Mobile VR doesn't have to mean [physically] moving around, but rather something you can access as easily in a café or a plane as you can at home. It was a choice made from day one: to create a fun and accessible experience by being static." JC Gaudechon, executive producer at CCP, the Icelandic developer famous for the massive space MMO EVE Online, is speaking about Gunjack, a demo turned fully fledged game for Gear VR, Samsung's mobile virtual reality headset. Gaudechon has spent the last six months shifting the project into a downloadable Gear VR title as CCP's betting big on the second coming of VR. With its upcoming blockbuster Valkyrie dogfighting sim, the studio's positioned as a major launch partner for both the Oculus Rift and Sony Morpheus headsets next year. But Gunjack is not Valkyrie. Built from the ground-up for mobile, it required a totally different approach from its better-known stablemate. It required learning how to make VR work on the smallest scale.
The maker of 'Eve' is betting big on VR and it might pay off
It's been a very rough 18 months for the makers of Eve Online, CCP. The company has lost money, canceled the long-delayed World of Darkness MMO, laid off well over 100 employees and said goodbye to two high-profile execs. It also hasn't released any financial statements or subscriber figures since revealing a drop in revenues in June 2014 -- in this case, no news is unlikely to be good news. But there's a plan to turn things around at CCP. It's making substantial changes to Eve Online in an attempt to attract new players, and has poured money into research and development with a big focus on virtual reality. Now, it's gearing up to release Eve Valkyrie, a AAA, competitive multiplayer shooter for Oculus Rift and Sony's Morpheus PS4 headset. The stakes are high, but this big bet on VR might just pay off.
SpaceX tests the safety rockets for its manned space vehicles
NASA's Commercial Crew Program is an initiative to get private companies to ferry personnel to-and-from the International Space Station. SpaceX is doing its very best to show that it can do the job, and has successfully tested one of the most important components its crewed vehicle needs: the escape engine. The company has test-fired a pair of its SuperDraco engines in Texas, demonstrating that the gear could ignite and throttle at the same time.
EVE Evolved: The end of EVE Evolved
By now, you will have heard that Massively is being shut down along with Joystiq and countless other blogs run by AOL. That unfortunately means this will be my final article for Massively and marks an end to the nearly seven-year run of the EVE Evolved column, which now holds over 350 articles on topics ranging from ship fittings and opinion pieces to guides and expansion breakdowns. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your readership and to express just how much playing EVE Online and writing for you really have impacted my life. I've been asked by so many people over the years for tips on breaking into the games industry as a journalist or MMO blogger, but the truth is that I lucked into this gig. When a post on the EVE Online news page said that some site called Massively was hiring an EVE Online columnist, I almost didn't bother applying. I was a prolific forumgoer back then and had written some guides for EON Magazine and my own blog, but I wanted to get into game development and had very little confidence in my writing ability. What I didn't know then was that writing for Massively would help improve my writing skills immeasurably and even help give me the confidence to launch my own game development studio. Massively gave me a platform on which to talk about EVE Online and an eager audience to share my game experiences with, but it turned into something much more profound. There have been low points dealing with trolls and organised harassment and tough times with budget cuts, but there have also some incredible experiences like attending the EVE Online Fanfest, investigating monoclegate, watching CCP redeem itself in the eyes of players, and collaborating with some of the best writers in the games industry. In this final edition of EVE Evolved, I look back at the start of the EVE Evolved column, break down my top ten column articles of all time, and try to put into words how much this column has meant to me over the years.
