Eve Online Developer CCP Sparks Backlash With Crypto Blockchain Spin-Off Eve Frontier [IGN]

Eve Online developer CCP has announced Eve Frontier, a spin-off of the much-loved MMO that adds controversial blockchain and cryptocurrency elements.

CCP describes Eve Frontier as an online space survival game with an open and persistent sandbox that focuses on “self-reliance, tactical and emergent gameplay, and third-party development.” Here’s the official blurb:

In Eve Frontier, CCP Games is creating a deep player-driven sandbox for a new era. Cast into a cruel and brutal cosmos, you have been lost to time and lost to light. To survive, you will need to explore, exploit and expand in the face of perpetual annihilation. The Frontier is a shattered region of space, warped by the presence of supermassive black holes gravitationally bound in a macabre dance. Rogue AI infests its depths; corrupting and consuming the remnants of what still stands.

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.

On the face of it, Eve Frontier sounds like an exciting alternative to Eve Online that could scratch a hardcore space survival itch, but the inclusion of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology that has sparked a backlash from Eve Online players, some of whom have let CCP know how they feel across social media and subreddits.

CCP explains its use of crypto as supporting player ownership of items, with all transactions between players permitted outside and inside the game. Blockchain tech, CCP says, lets players edit aspects of the game world and server in real-time. CCP insists all this tech is environmentally friendly: “all technology used to develop and operate Eve Frontier has the same energy consumption as Eve Online’s infrastructure.”

Despite these explanations, Eve Online players have reacted in horror at the announcement of Eve Frontier. Its subreddit is packed with complaints, with one player accusing CCP of tarnishing Eve Online.

Another Eve Online player called on CCP to cancel Eve Frontier. “None of us want this crypto slop, this desperate cash grab, this attempt at ‘creating something great,’ WOLFWOLF68 said. “This game where buzzwords seem more important than gameplay.

“We love Eve. That’s why we still play it. None of us, through the memes and the laughs, want Eve to die. This ‘New Frontier’ is not Eve. It’s everything bad about Eve, with even worse elements in it.

“It won’t work. People wont play this. Blockchain and crypto has its time, and it is passed. Please. I beg of you. Don’t destroy this amazing game you have created.”

CCP’s X/Twitter post announcing Eve Frontier has sparked similarly vociferous responses from Eve Online fans.

releasing a blockchain game a year after the weird hype about that technology died
so now you got a shitty concept and don’t even get a pay-off for it

let’s see how this is going to turn out 🙂

— Hannah / Nimos (@nim0s) September 12, 2024

I initially liked this cos I like Eve, but just wanted to say I retract my Like because of the Blockchain nonsense, thanks

— Rob McLachlan (@robmclac) September 12, 2024

Despite being over 20 years old, Eve Online retains a loyal fanbase and is still capable of housing incredible, community-driven stories. Eve Online is infamous for player heists, large-scale sci-fi battles, and for being so complex some of its players maintain multiple spreadsheets just to keep on top of things. Through all the ups and downs, CCP has struggled to create an Eve spin-off that has hit the same heights as its veteran MMO, with first-person shooter Dust 514 and VR game Eve: Valkyrie both falling by the wayside. Another Eve FPS, called Vanguard, is in the works.

As for Eve Frontier, CCP said it will reveal more later this year.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.