It’s the time of year again when EVE Online fans and developers from around the world make the annual pilgrimage to a frozen volcanic rock at the top of the world for the EVE Online Fanfest. Over 1200 people are in attendance at this year’s event, and the key talks are all being streamed live in HD for free via Twitch TV. I’m also here on the floor at the event to bring you all the latest from the EVE universe and visit some of the talks and roundtables that won’t be streamed.
The focus of EVE Fanfest 2015 will be squarely on players, with all the reveals and announcements packed into the EVE Keynote later today to give the most time possible for roundtable discussions and feedback sessions. CCP has promised less talk about visions for EVE‘s future and more on things it can promise to deliver, with “less hype and more substance.” We’ll see some shiny new graphics, results of the overhauled new player experience testing, and info on upcoming balance changes and the sovereignty revamp. We’re also promised a ton of interesting stats on EVE and a big feature reveal that players should go crazy over.
A significant focus has been placed on VR tech for this year’s event, with a live demo of EVE: Valkyrie on the new Crescent Bay Oculus Rift and several new VR tech demos on both the Rift and Samsung’s Gear VR. Since Valkyrie came out of nowhere as a side project, CCP has now given two small teams in Atlanta and Shanghai carte blanche to just play around with VR tech and see what they can do. Those of you hoping to hear more about Project Legion will be disappointed as it’s not ready to show, but CCP says it believes that DUST 514 is now in the best state it has ever been in.
