Eve Online developer CCP Games has announced a ten-day trial for Eve Frontier, the survival spinoff of the 20-year-old space MMO. Players interested in Frontier can register for access to the game’s closed alpha, as CCP Games keeps working toward a full launch. When Eve Frontier launches it’ll be free-to-play, with an optional subscription. Until now, however, you’ve only been able to sample it outside of a trial if you purchase a Founder’s Pack. Partly, that’s why this new free trial is distinctive. But if you’re a Star Citizen fan still waiting for the arrival of the persistent universe, CCP says that will be available in Eve Frontier from the off.
Eve Frontier is a hybrid space, survival, and simulation game with an open and persistent universe to explore. You awaken to a cruel and brutal cosmos, and need to explore the shared server while choosing to work with, or against, any other players you come across. You’ll be engaging in dogfights, economic disputes, and trying to re-civilize a living galaxy. It does sound promising. But something potentially controversial sets Frontier apart from the original Eve Online: it incorporates cryptocurrency and blockchain functionality.
The Frontier version of the space MMO allows players to trade both in and outside of the game, using two cryptocurrencies built on the ERC-20 token (that’s the Ethereum blockchain). According to CCP Games, this is so players “will be able to create their own private markets, sub-economies, and currencies,” while using the blockchain means players can edit parts of the game world and server in real-time.
The use of crypto and blockchain technology has proved contentious for players both in and out of the Eve Online community, however, with many voicing concern over the integration of Web3 technology. “I am saying this because I love Eve. Because I have been playing it almost every day of my life for 5 years now,” one user, Wolfwolf68, writes on the Eve subreddit. “Don’t do this.”
If you do end up giving the Eve Frontier trial a shot, you won’t receive any of the perks, content, or customization options that Founders Pack owners have, but you will have over a week to give the game a shot yourself.
CCP Games has opened registration for the ten-day Eve Frontier trial now, which will run between Friday February 14 and Monday February 24. You can learn more here.
Keep an eye out for the best space games and best multiplayer games as well, if you want to explore the deepest reaches of the cosmos with others.
You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides, or join our community Discord to stay in the know.
