Dust 514 Orbital Strike blast

If you’re an Eve Online player headed to Boston for the Penny Arcade Expo East, then prepare for the chance to make history in the Eve universe.

Developer CCP Games has two big pieces of news for the coming PAX East gaming convention, which takes place March 22–24. First, it will announce its new Eve Online expansion. Second, it will hold a special in-game event for Eve and Dust 514 that will shape the lore of both games going forward.

“This is another thing we’re doing to reward and fan the flames of our community,” CCP Games chief marketing officer David Reid told GamesBeat. “Our players are going to get a chance to get their hands on the game and make history in the Eve universe.”

CCP will have its own booth at PAX East, where it will host the special event.

As for the new add-on pack, the developer typically releases two expansions a year for its space-based massively multiplayer game Eve Online. The company is coming off a major success with the launch of its winter expansion Retribution, which put the game over 500,000 monthly subscribers. CCP plans to release the new content this summer.

Its other game, Dust 514, exists on the same server as Eve Online, and the games deeply intermingle with one another. Dust is currently in open beta on PlayStation 3, but if this PAX East event is going to lay the groundwork for the future of the first-person shooter, then CCP will debut the final release very soon.

“These [PAX East] players will be able to leave early footprints in the Dust sandbox,” said Reid. “[They will determine] what history unfurls for the Eve universe based on this event.”