CCP Games, the studio behind EVE Online, has announced that it is developing a new triple-A game set in the EVE universe.

"Since its inception, CCP Games' vision has been to create a virtual world that is more meaningful than reality," said CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson on projectawakening.io (opens in new tab)." Now, with advances in blockchain, we can create a new world in which our expertise in player agency and autonomy is deeply embedded, empowering players to participate in new ways"

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The announcement is less about the game itself and more about the project's financing: CCP has received $40 million in development funding from Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm founded by Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen CCP is a member of the Netscape board of directors. However, CCP states that the project "leverages smart contract blockchain technology to create a new relationship between the virtual world and its players, focusing on persistence, complexity, and truly open third-party development."

Honestly, I'm not sure what that means, and unfortunately Andreesen Horowitz's announcement (opens in new tab) provides no further information.

"This new AAA title will combine CCP's 25 years of game design experience with the latest blockchain technology to create a new frontier of player agency and autonomy, set within the EVE universe.

"Together, we share the belief that player ownership and governance within an open platform can be an important source of enjoyment that amplifies great gameplay and engaging game design.

There is one interesting note: Andreesen Horowitz states that CCP "has already made great strides in product development and has been very impressed with the playtesting so far." In other words, it's not just empty promises and other people's money being thrown around.

Still, there are questions. Despite announcements like this one, game development using blockchain appears to have stalled, perhaps because few developers are actually interested in it: according to the GDC's annual developer survey (open in new tab), blockchain technology in games Only 12% of respondents were in favor of using blockchain technology for games, while 56% were opposed. To make matters worse, no one has seen anyone explain what blockchain-based games accomplish for players that traditional technologies cannot. And there is a genuine backlash against blockchain and NFTs in video games. But I'm beginning to think our declaration that we've been bullied out of mainstream gaming (open in new tab) may have been a bit premature.

The reaction to Petursson's tweet from crypto enthusiasts and blockchain developers has been predictably positive, but the reaction from other quarters has been somewhat mixed:

For myself, I see no point in spreading nonsense buzzwords to promote a game that doesn't exist outside of a funding announcement. I don't understand. But this is how blockchain game announcements always go: we hear about the money, but not the game. Of course, there is no guarantee that this project will ever see the light of day; CCP seems to have a hard time making anything other than EVE Online.

Pétursson had previously expressed enthusiasm for the "untapped potential" of blockchain technology, but also acknowledged that "a lot of work needs to be done" before it can be used in games like EVE Online. He stated that there are "no plans to add blockchain technology to EVE Online's global server Tranquillity in the foreseeable future" in 2022, adding that "for us, NFT stands for 'Not for Tranquility' (open in new tab)."