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EVE Online Creators Look to Open Source and Blockchain Technology for Longevity
CCP Games CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson recently spoke with Gaming Industry at length about the studio’s future, which will include transforming EVE Online’s Carbon Development Platform into an open-source property.
The elements of the CDP will be characterized by blockchain technology. While only a few years ago it seemed many Education would have embraced the technology despite its controversies, many have he stepped back following the decline public interest in favor of focusing on genAI.
While the CCP is using blockchain for its survival project, called “Awakening,” Pétursson noted that it will be entirely optional once the CDP is open to everyone.
Just as Linux doesn’t have to be used for blockchain, he stressed that CDP “can be used for anything. Our engine is made up of different components and you can just mix and match as you like.”
Calling blockchain a “weird database,” Pétursson claimed that EVE was the “first database game ever made.” However, he reiterated that blockchain’s output will depend on who uses it: “Technology is just technology, you can use any technology for better or for worse.”
CCP Wants EVE Online to Never Stop
Pétursson also noted that taking EVE open source gives the game a chance to live forever. The studio’s flagship MMO is now over 20 years old, and CCP itself is 27, making this a calculated move if it ever closes down.
“In my opinion, making the platform that powers it open source greatly increases the likelihood of that happening,” Pétursson said. “Generally, open and shared code is more likely to be robust over time.”
He also noted that going open source can be “immensely helpful” for developers. The approach can lead to simpler, more specific solutions (as seen with Linux and Unreal engine) and foster a simpler relationship with potential developers in universities.
Ultimately, Pétursson knows there’s a lot of “emerging potential” in EVE, and he hopes open source can help foster it. The “resilient community” that has formed around the game has kept it alive, and making its tools available to everyone can only expand its reach.
“When you give tools to people in a community, they will do amazing things. That’s the story of human life, and they will outpace your creativity far more than you think. Every time you try to put a lid on it, you limit its potential. Make it open, and the sky is the limit.”
GamesIndustry’s full interview with Pétursson, which includes his thoughts on the EVE Online community as a whole, can be read Here.