You had to figure that CCP Games wasn’t going to keep calling Project Awakening that forever, right? Indeed it was not, and as of today, the company is now calling it EVE Frontier.
Now before you get too excited, there are two things you need to know: Yes, kind of a lot of EVE Online spinoffs already have homes in the EVE graveyard, so the EVE name out in front is not necessarily a winning strategy. And this is CCP’s blockchain venture because CCP has never seen a gaming tech fad it didn’t try to sink a ton of money into.
We spied some mainstream sites acting shocked at the news this morning, but in fact CCP Games has been talking up Project Awakening since at least March of last year, right around the time CCP’s owner, Pearl Abyss, told investors it had a blockchain project underway. That news came not long after EVE Online players rioted over CCP’s attempts to shove NFTs into EVE, which CCP was forced to abort – just some relevant context for how well these things tend to go over with actual MMORPG gamers.
Indeed, today’s press release touts CCP’s transparency but mentions blockchain only once, the video doesn’t mention it at all, and the website uses phrases like “smart storage units” and “smart assemblies” as euphemisms for how creators will interface with the blockchain. But there’s no great secret here: This is just another explore-and-exploit sandbox.
“With all players on one single-shard server, death and opportunity lurk in equal measure. Awareness is power: your skill as a pilot and strategic choices determine the outcome of every encounter, whether you favor hit-and-run tactics, stealth, or all-out warfare. Exploit the Frontier’s natural resources to upgrade your ship with vital technology and acquire new capabilities. Obtain fuel, the lifeblood of your journey, to power your travel as you overcome its dangers. A community-driven and dynamic economy allows you to create custom currencies, establish markets, and trade assets, services, and reputation in a truly open environment. Rebuild civilization from its ashes by using Smart Assemblies, an open-ended platform, to construct and program infrastructure within space. Expand your influence through defenses, trading posts and multiple types of functionality, each imbued with a programmable layer that links the world of the Frontier to the real world outside of it. Develop your own ideas or address the needs of others: from mission systems to private economies, Smart Assemblies unlocks third-party development with a toolkit for creators to build beyond a virtual world.”
The game has been in testing since last December; current playtest signups are available on the official website. “Founder access” is apparently coming soon for PC and Mac players.
