The developers of EVE Online are making an MMO shooter set in the same universe as the MMORPG. MeinMMO editor Dariusz spoke with Scott Davis and Snorri Árnason from CCP and gives you an idea of what EVE Vanguard is supposed to be.
What kind of game is this? The creators of EVE Online are making a new game: EVE Vanguard. It is intended to be an MMO first-person shooter (MMOFPS) in a sci-fi setting. To this end, the developers are currently hosting a series of playtests, where the first players can get an impression of the game. The current playtest runs from November 28 to December 9, 2024.
There is no clearly defined game objective in EVE Online. Primarily, players pursue the development of their own characters as well as the accumulation of personal in-game wealth. Accordingly, there is a great focus on the game’s market system and economic actions. EVE Online repeatedly features massive space battles where thousands of players face off and fight for resources, for example.
EVE Vanguard is supposed to take place in the same universe as EVE Online, but instead of controlling a spaceship, you control a character with a gun. Therefore, the developers express confidence in the interview with MeinMMO editor Dariusz that EVE Vanguard will also be of interest to players who have never played EVE Online.
The shooter does not have a release date yet. However, the current schedule of the developers anticipates starting Early Access on PC around 2025 – a console version is planned, but the focus is initially on PC.
An MMO, but not a Destiny clone
In principle, you pursue the same goal as in most MMOs: you want to get stronger to face tougher challenges. To become stronger, you can either craft various components or find them on the planets. And this is where the actual gameplay loop begins.
You go to a planet and fulfill contracts. You can also loot diligently and mine resources. Time and again, you will need to fight against hostile NPCs or other players. Up to this point, EVE Vanguard sounds like a classic extraction shooter, but the developers report fundamental differences in the interview:
This game works without you bringing anything into or out of combat. That’s not what it’s about. It’s about completing missions on the surface. So basically, you just go on a mission, get things done. Extracting is an option. Completing a mission is an option. You can just have fun, but progress is based on collecting loot and getting things done, but that’s not all. There are also game modes without extraction.
And here everyone who is not in the mood for another extraction shooter pays attention. The developers do not want Vanguard to be defined by a single mode. There should also be structured PvP modes, an economic system, and crafting.
For our Destiny community at MeinMMO, we of course asked if EVE Vanguard would also have pure PvE experiences. Senior product manager Scott Davis revealed to us: “Yes, I think we will do that, we want to expand PvE experiences as well. […] The pure PvE mode is something we want to think about, and we hope we can have a structured PvE mode similar to the structured PvP ‘Insurgency’ mode.”
However, there is a catch for Destiny fans. Game director Snorri Árnason made it clear that there will probably be no raids in EVE Vanguard. While he says it could be interesting, it doesn’t fit the core of the game. Instead, they want to fill planets with players and give them various activities to do. In this sense, it should also be clear: EVE Vanguard is not a loot shooter. You do loot various things and upgrade your weapons and equipment, but it is not a loot shooter.
You determine how the ‘story’ progresses
In Destiny 2, you have a long scripted story that has developed over many years and came to an end with the expansion “The Final Shape.” In EVE Vanguard, you, the players, determine what happens. In the universe of EVE, there are huge wars among players. You are also involved in these wars in EVE Vanguard. The games are interconnected.
And to gain the upper hand in a battle between factions, players need to make decisions in consultation with each other. The community of EVE Online and EVE Vanguard issues the task that you fulfill in Vanguard – for example, to obtain a resource that helps your faction in the war.
The war, and thus the story that is driven forward by the players, proceeds based on the decisions and actions of the community. Helldivers 2 is a good comparison:
- The game master Joel issues a general command because the robots are attacking 2 planets.
- You must defend the planets, but the time and resources are only enough to save one of the two planets.
- On planet 1 you get new anti-tank mines, on planet 2 a new rocket launcher.
- The players must discuss among themselves which “reward” they want and thereby which planet they will save. The other planet falls into the hands of the robots.
In EVE it is similar, only the players take on the role of the game master and the robots. You need to figure out for yourself which planet has the more important resources for you and which planet you leave to the enemy faction (also players).
Ideally, the communities of EVE Online and EVE Vanguard even coordinate with each other and support each other. This influence that your decisions have on the course of the game is one of the fundamental features for the developers of EVE Vanguard.
Developers have learned from past mistakes
EVE Online has been a successful sci-fi MMORPG for many years, but the developers have had less success with other games. One of these games is the online shooter Dust 514, which was shut down in 2016. Snorri Árnason showed us that they have, in fact, learned from the failure of Dust.
One lesson is, for example, that they are developing EVE Vanguard first for PC. This is their “home platform,” and they know it well. Consoles will come later.
Another lesson is that they do not want to sacrifice their vision and think too small. They want to develop a sandbox MMOFPS, so they are not showing anything smaller and saying “we will add that later.” They focus on their vision, which they work on from start to finish. Development is indeed a process that occurs in stages, but they know exactly where they want to go.
The studio behind EVE Online and EVE Vanguard announced another game just a few months ago, a survival game called EVE Frontiers. You can find out more about it on MeinMMO: Developers of EVE Online announce a new survival MMO that players can permanently change.
