Starting with an alpha
In May of 2013,EVE Onlinedeveloper CCP launchedDust 514exclusively on PS3, only to shut it down three years later. It was an incredibly ambitious project for the MMO-centric company, and after following it up by diving into the vehicular combat and sports genres, they’re ready to take another crack at shooters. We’ve known aboutProject Novafor a while, but today at EVE Vegas the developer is getting it all out in the open.
Starting next month CCP will conduct alpha testing forProject Nova(which is still a working title), as part of a joint effort between the Icelandic studio and the Sheffield-based Sumo Digital. Taking place in the same world asEVE Online, you’ll take control of a Warclone (an elite soldier) on behalf of AEGIS against the faction Sansha’s Nation.
Novaboasts a “multiple act narrative” on top of character progression like additional weapons and mods amid three class types (light, medium, heavy). PVE and PVP modes are planned (as well as squads of two, three, or four, a popular battle royale scheme). In case you’re wondering “there are no plans” for a battle royale mode at the moment: I asked.
As for the bigger picture details, CCP isn’t ready to talk about those just yet. No pricing model has been announced and the game is said to “co-evolve” with the community as time goes on, which includes a “Conclave” initiative of closed NDA testers working closely with the team. The studio says that this is the perfect entry point for people who findEVE Online“too unforgiving,” but want to take part of the universe in some form. Both games are indeed the same world (it’s said to pick up “several years” afterDust 514) but aren’t being completely linked mechanically: at least not at first.
