We've known for years that Sony Online Entertainment is working on the MMORPG EverQuest Next. But until today, the company was keeping a lid on a promising new EverQuest game that relies heavily on user-generated content. EverQuest Next Landmark is a free-to-play world-building MMO slated to arrive this winter, and will incorporate many of the same world-building tools used by developers to make EverQuest Next, effectively putting those tools in the hands of players. More than a toolset, creation happens within an online, persistent world in Landmark, a format clearly inspired by Minecraft. But the game goes further, as player content can be considered for addition to EverQuest Next proper. At a livestreamed fan event in Las Vegas, EverQuest development director Dave Georgeson said the upcoming EverQuest games will incorporate the Player Studio user-generated content model that's already in use for current EverQuest games. Under the program, players can create items, put them on a digital store, and collect royalties off of sales. It's a model that SOE president John Smedley has previously said SOE overall is moving toward.

EverQuest Next

While EverQuest Next's existence was no surprise, what SOE showed off today was an impressive, dynamic MMORPG. The game has been in development since 2009, but SOE said that almost two years ago, it decided to totally rethink the game's direction. Key game design elements include "multi-classing" (there are no levels here), destructible voxel-based environments, players' ability to permanently change the world, emergent AI and a choice/consequence-driven experience (SOE is working with sandbox gurus Storybricks). EverQuest Next's release date is unannounced. For more information, visit the official EverQuest Next site.