The Eve Online universe already enables players to run a corporation, smuggle nefarious space goods, and fight in ground wars. But that last part, the one that is a first-person shooter — is about to see some changes.
While Eve continues to expand, developer CCP revealed during its Fan Fest event in Iceland today that it will follow-up the PlayStation 3-exclusive shooter Dust 514 with a re-imagined version for PC called Project Legion. CCP debuted Dust 514 for Sony’s last-gen console in May 2013, and it set the free-to-play release apart from other shooters by having the actions of players in Dust affect the world of Eve Online. With Project Legion, CCP hopes to give the same opportunity to players on the PC while making major improvements at the same time.
“[It’s] a new approach to being a mercenary on the ground,” CCP chief executive Hilmar Veigar Pétursson told news website Eurogamer in an interview. “It’s almost that experience made anew.”
During the Dust 514 keynote at Fan Fest, CCP emphasized that Project Legion is not a port of the PS3 shooter to PC (which it didn’t talk much about other than to say an unspecified number of players are still enjoying). It is, instead, an entirely new “project” that takes what the developers learned from producing the first title to make a new sandbox-style shooter that puts players into the role of a mercenary. The word “project” is important, because CCP wasn’t definitive about whether it will release the game.
So, what’s different about Project Legion? Well, in addition to the competitive modes it features a co-operative game type that has players teaming up to take on computer-controlled enemies. CCP also wants to amp up the “anything goes” and “don’t trust anyone” emergent moments that make Eve proper to enduring. That means that in certain areas, teammates can kill one another and steal their loot. That guy you’ve worked with on the last few missions might say he is your friend, but if you get something good that he wants … well, don’t trust anyone.
To further emphasize that point, CCP is shifting from Dust 514’s skilled-based to a gear-based progression.
While this new shooter’s still in the early phases of development, CCP wanted to share the concept with its fans to get feedback. If Eve and Dust players react well, then the developer will continue along its current production track and eventually release Project Legion.
As for Dust 514 on PlayStation 3, the game will continue as is. CCP has no plans to shut it down any time soon, so those players who are happy with that experience are safe for now.
