![What We Know About CCP Games’ Mysterious Unannounced Tactical Shooter [Updated]](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/new-eve-online-fps-shooter-project-concept-art-2022.jpg "What We Know About CCP Games’ Mysterious Unannounced Tactical Shooter [Updated]")
CCP Games is taking another stab at making a first-person shooter set in New Eden, the universe of EVE Online. They will not give up.
In 2016 CCP Games shut down DUST 514, an ambitious PlayStation-excusive team-based FPS that had some loose ties with the large EVE Online universe. That same year at EVE Fanfest they introduced players and let them get hands-on with Project Nova (previously known as Project Legion), a prototype PC shooter being built on Unreal Engine 4.
At EVE Fanfest 2017, our first time at the event, we spoke to everyone we could at CCP Games about Project Nova. CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson confirmed that Project Nova was indeed still in development at CCP Shanghai. We spoke to Jean-Charles Gaudechon, Managing Director CCP Shanghai at the time, who told us they were very much committed to the game and that it would be a boots-on-the-ground experience with less direct ties into the EVE Online MMO. Quite simply, Project Nova needed to stand on its own two feet before worrying about the MMO layer.
The rough plan at the time, hinted at by Gaudechon, is that it would be focused on PvP, be open-ended and not linear in design, and could be a title premium, though EVE Online had just transitioned to introducing a free-to-play model so that was possible as well. He also said that decisions made in-game, mattered, for what it’s worth.
Project Nova Becomes Real in 2018, For A Short While
Skip forward to EVE Fanfest 2018 and we learn more about Project Nova from the team and speak to CCP Games CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson who tells us that Project Nova would be tactical, strategic, and focus primarily on quality gunplay. At the time, battle royales had become the craze, and Fortnite was stealing PUBG’s thunder. Despite this, Hilmar explained that CCP would not target the battle royale craze and looked at games like Fortnite as positive for the genre in the long-run by bringing more players into the shooter genre.
Project Nova was officially unveiled later in October 2018 at EVE Vegas and we get to play it in its pre-alpha form! Project Nova had no official title or price point, but we knew the structure and plan (sort of). It was a hardcore shooter with PvP and PvE elements that let players choose different suits and subclasses and unlock attachments for their weapons. The game supported 16 players per team with smaller squads of 4. The gunplay was neat but the AI was nonexistent in the build we played and movement felt dated. Watch my gameplay here.
In February 2020, Project Nova was cancelled. We’re told that shooter ideas were still being explored.
The Next EVE Online FPS
One global pandemic later and we’re back in Iceland for EVE Fanfest 2022 and CCP boss Hilmar took to the stage to tease, you guessed it, another multiplayer shooter project in development. This time we don’t even know the project name but we do know it’s in development in the UK and that it’ll be set in New Eden. The official FAQ:
CCP London is working on an unannounced online tactical FPS game set in New Eden. CCP is committed to offering an innovative multiplayer shooter with atmospheric visuals. CCP is looking forward to revealing the game when we’re ready to do so. CCP London’s Community Lead is at Fanfest talking to the community about what they’d want from their ideal New Eden shooter.
The goal of teasing this project to the fans at EVE Fanfest is to continue to be transparent to the community, which we love, but also to start gauging some early feedback and ideas from the most dedicated players. It’s also to announce to the world that the project is in the works for staffing needs.
We recognize that a hard sci-fi FPS game set in the EVE Universe is a very popular concept and CCP is committed to offering an innovative multiplayer shooter with atmospheric visuals. We want to show you rather than tell you how we have evolved this concept and we’re looking forward to doing so when the time comes to reveal the game.
After this announcement at EVE Fanfest 2022 we spoke to Hilmar Veigar Pétursson about the shooter and why they’re trying for the third or fourth or fifth time. The answer is simple.
Hilmar Veigar Pétursson: We’re very stubborn people, and we just don’t want to let that go, even if we have had successes and failures in the space.
He continues, telling us that they want to finish the journey started by DUST 514 and truly deliver.
UPDATE: 2023/09/21 BY ROB KEYES
EVE Fanfest 2023 is here!
EVE Fanfest 2023 takes place September 21-23 where announcements will be made about the future of EVE Online. We are hoping to learn more about CCP’s next shooter project during the presentations (full schedule here) and will ask around for more information!
