CCP Games, like some other studios we could mention, seems to be a place where the team got one very successful MMO off the ground and then could never make a follow-up work. The historical road of EVE Online is littered with countless fascinating wrecks, oddities, and half-baked projects.
Wait, “countless?” That’s a bit of an exaggeration there, Justin. I bet you could count them. I bet they’d even count to 10 because you have a column quota to do. So let’s do this. Let’s list all of CCP’s bizarre EVE Online progeny.
EVE Online
We’ll start our list here with the OG space spreadsheet sandbox, which launched all the way back in 2003 – 21 years ago. Despite a slow start, high learning curve, and ruthless atmosphere, EVE Online eventually did very well for CCP, spawning many expansions, fan conventions, and headlining stories about how one corporation was a super-jerk to another corporation.
DUST 514
Ten years after EVE’s launch, CCP launched an audacious PlayStation 3 expansion of the universe with DUST 514. This first-person shooter didn’t merely have EVE theming; it was set on the very same server as the MMO where players could fight on the planet surfaces below the spaceships that would vie for them. The integration was an interesting aspect, but the whole game never gelled, and DUST 514 folded in 2016.
EVE Valkyrie
For a while there, CCP bought into this virtual reality fad (yeah, I said the “f” word) and was trying to pump out all sorts of EVE spinoffs for these devices. I’ll start with 2016’s EVE Valkyrie, a dogfighting sim for the Oculus Rift, Vive, and PlayStation VR. It did add cross-platform play in 2017, but that’s about it. Valkyrie limped along until August 2022, believe it or not, before it was killed.
EVE Gunjack
Also coming out in late 2016 was EVE Gunjack, a VR arcade shooter where players took up the role of a turret on a big ol’ ship and, uh, blasted stuff with extreme prejudice. Like the other two VR projects, Gunjack only had limited appeal and was effectively dead in the water when CCP shut down its VR department in 2017.
EVE Gunjack 2: End of Shift
Gunjack actually saw a sequel of sorts in the same year of its launch, 2016. Gunjack 2: End of Shift released as an exclusive Google Daydream title, claiming that it “seamlessly integrates intuitive motion controls with intense, full-immersion action to become the ultimate mobile virtual reality experience.” Guess it wasn’t that ultimate because it shut down like the rest in 2022, but not before hopping onto Samsung Gear VR in 2017.
Project Legion
While DUST 514 operated exclusively on the PlayStation 3, there were plans to make a port of the game for the PC crowd — i.e., where most EVE Online players existed. Project Legion toiled about in the mid-2010s with this goal in mind but was kicked to the curb in 2015. Its announcement also seriously cheesed off the console players who felt as though CCP was going to abandon them. Which it was, mind you, just in a different way.
EVE Echoes
It was probably inevitable that sooner or later, an EVE Online mobile version would emerge. That’s exactly what we got in August 2020 with EVE Echoes, a joint project from NetEase and CCP for Android and iOS devices. While not the identical EVE Online experience, Echoes nevertheless tried hard to translate as much of the original MMO design into a mobile experience. It’s been (space) trucking along fairly well ever since.
Project Nova
CCP never stopped trying to make an EVE-themed FPS work, so the next attempt was Project Nova. It was announced shortly after Project Legion in 2016, but instead of being a DUST 514 port, Nova would be a brand-new lobby shooter made with the Unreal Engine 4. Work continued on this through 2018, at which point CCP decided to scrap the original concept and go back to the drawing board. It then canceled whatever the second version of Project Nova was by 2020.
EVE Vanguard
For those keeping track at home, EVE Vanguard is the current iteration of CCP’s MMOFPS aspirations. This “FPS module” is meant to link to EVE Online in some way and is currently going through the development and testing process. Just like DUST 514, Vanguard is supposed to feature ground combat on the planets in the full EVE Online universe.
EVE Frontier
Originally called Project Awakening, EVE Frontier was formally given a name earlier this fall as the blockchain spinoff of EVE Online. That’s about all you need to know before running to the nearest bathtub to scrub yourself clean. I mean, it’s going to be a disaster, we all know it, so just grab some space popcorn and get to munching.
EVE Galaxy Conquest
Let’s squeeze one last title into this list, why not! EVE Galaxy Conquest is yet another mobile game, although this one is a 4X strategy title set in the EVE universe. It’s gearing up for a late October release on iOS and Android.
Everyone likes a good list, and we are no different! Perfect Ten takes an MMO topic and divvies it up into 10 delicious, entertaining, and often informative segments for your snacking pleasure. Got a good idea for a list? Email us at justin@massivelyop.com or eliot@massivelyop.com with the subject line “Perfect Ten.”
