CCP Games studio has officially announced an online space sandbox with elements of the survival simulator Eve Frontier in the Eve Online universe. The game will feature blockchain elements, which have caused fans to criticize the creators despite the latter’s attempts to defend their innovations.
Image source: CCP Games
In Eve Frontier (working title: Project Awakening), players will explore the Frontier, an area of space with traces of ancient civilizations, distorted by the effects of supermassive black holes. You will have to navigate the planets, fight in hardcore tactical battles, obtain Matter (a universal resource needed for flight, research and other actions) and improve ships.
The project is created on the proprietary open source Carbon engine. One of the most important features will be the Smart Assemblies blockchain platform, with which players will be able to “manage the rules of the universe.” The innovation will allow “to build and program infrastructure in space” (defensive structures, trading posts, etc.) using the Redstone blockchain and MUD technology from Lattice (Redstone developers). Each faction will be able to issue their own currencies, forming a complex economy. The creators want Eve Frontier to be “decentralized and (almost) eternal.” At the same time, the authors are not yet ready to talk about monetization.
The developers themselves are categorically against the definition of a “blockchain game” and insist that Eve Frontier is a “game with blockchain technologies” that are used with good intentions. The team hopes that the new project will do the same thing that happened with Eve Online, which gamers initially did not believe in due to the use of databases: it will change the attitude of users towards the blockchain and make them understand that it is “just a tool ” “This technology just allows us to do some things that wouldn’t be possible without it,” CCP Games product manager Scott McCabe told PC Gamer.
No matter how hard the authors tried, the mere mention of blockchain elements was enough for fans to criticize the developers. The general dissatisfaction was reinforced by the contentless announcement trailer, for which the studio disabled the ability to put dislikes.
In the comments to the video, players also accused CCP Games of weak support for Eve Online in recent years (the Equinox and Havoc expansions were received ambiguously). The studios also remembered the failures with past branches – the closure of Dust 514 and Eve: Valkyrie.
«I think all I understood was that the game was dark, sci-fi, and about space,” CrispyChestnuts complained.
«Played Eve for over 16 years,” wrote cav0409. – I quit, I don’t think about going back and I’m happy. You don’t listen to the players, you only collect money.”
«Eve doesn’t deserve to be a blockchain scam,” complains spaceghost8891.
«This game is already dead,” states nemleon87.
«CCP needs to be proactive in preventing Eve Online from dying, rather than being distracted by a crypto game,” says cjcarus921.
«Turning off dislikes is cowardly,” SoakingTheDog noted.
On September 27, the fourth stage of closed beta testing of Eve Frontier starts (an application for participation can be submitted on the official website). The trailer reveals that a test for Founders’ Pack buyers will begin “soon” on PC (Windows and macOS).