What began as the EVE-VR Oculus Rift tech demo is now due to become a full title under the name EVE Valkyrie. A newly released announcement trailer says that the game will launch in 2014. EVE Valkyrie is expected to be on display at Gamescom 2013 which is being held this week in Germany.
EVE-VR began life as an Oculus Rift tech demo made by a small team of folks at developer CCP Games, the same company behind the popular spacefaring MMO, EVE Online (2003). According to many, the EVE-VR tech demo stole the show at the annual EVE Fanfest back in April. The demo put players in the cockpit of a futuristic spaceship and pitted them against one another in 6 vs 6 dogfighting combat.
The announcement trailer, which was released today, tells us that CCP Games is now taking the game into full development under the title EVE Valkyrie, and that it will launch in 2014. An official EVE Valkyrie website is now live as well.
While the company’s official communications have been avoiding explicit use of the term ‘Oculus Rift’ , instead opting for ‘virtual reality’, there’s no doubt in my mind that the game will ship with Oculus Rift support. For instance, take the description of the launch trailer:
EVE: Valkyrie (formerly EVE-VR) is a multiplayer dogfighting shooter set in the EVE universe that uses virtual reality to give players the sense of being a real pilot in an EVE Online fighter. Coming 2014.
It’s interesting to note that the description name-drops EVE Online; in May, CCP Games launched Dust 514, a free-to-play first-person-shooter that plays into the EVE Online universe (and vice versa). Maybe EVE Valkyrie will share a similar connection, though there’s a stark contrast between EVE Online’s slow, methodical gameplay and EVE Valkyrie’s fast dogfighting action.
Below you can see some gameplay from the EVE-VR prototype shown during EVE Fanfest:
It’s unclear if EVE Valkyrie will require the Oculus Rift or if it will also be playable with a monitor.
Development of EVE Valkyrie is being handled at CCP’s Newcastle studio in the UK, according to IGN.
IGN quotes CCP’s boss Hilmar Petursson as saying:
From the moment this year’s Fanfest attendees first got their hands on EVE-VR, the question has been, ‘When can I have this?’ What started as a passion project by a small, incredibly talented group of CCP developers became one of the most highly anticipated games of the year — before we even announced it. We have big plans for EVE: Valkyrie and I can’t wait to share more details later this year.
Road to VR’s own Paul James is on the ground at Gamescom 2013 and will be bringing us the details as they emerge!
