At GDC this year, EVE Online’s CCP Games raised eyebrows when CEO Hilmar Petursson was photographed meeting with crypto, NFT, and metaverse entrepreneurs. Players were already concerned about CCP’s and Pearl Abyss’ blockchain intentions in EVE Online following esports NFT prizes in the game as well as quotes from Petursson and Pearl Abyss’ recent investor call that suggested the companies were continuing to explore blockchain shenanigans in their games, including potentially EVE Online, so the fact that CCP retweeted the photo – and then deleted it after the ensuing uproar – filled gamers with dread.
Petursson has now addressed the situation revolving around CCP’s activities, referring to it as “speculation.” Highlighting CCP’s tradition of following the “new frontier” and saying that he agrees with players who believe “blockchain tech has both a lot of untapped potential and a lot of work needed before being ready for EVE-scale games,” Petursson clarifies his plans for EVE: that NFT means “Not For Tranquility.”
“[W]e have no plans to add blockchain technology into EVE Online’s global server Tranquility for the foreseeable future. For the coming years, development for Tranquility will focus on building exciting new opportunities on top of the robust foundation that has been laid over the past two decades. While we remain intrigued by the technology, for us, NFT stands for ‘Not for Tranquility’. Overall, the EVE IP will continue to push the boundaries of digital economies and virtual worlds – and we will continue to explore that outside of TQ.”
Of course, as The Ancient Gaming Noob notes, the “foreseeable future” is a vague phrase, and CCP and Pearl Abyss could just as easily pivot again should players let down their guard.
CCP promises to keep blockchain/NFT off of the current Eve Online server.
Which begs the question, when is Eve announcing the new server. https://t.co/Fa0MbDWpbx
— Scott Jennings (@Lum_) April 11, 2022
