Feature: CCP Hopes To Capitalize On EVE Universe With Dust 514

Author: by Staff

Tying into its MMO EVE Online, CCP's upcoming PSN-based shooter Dust 514 will benefit from the "meaningful world" built by the developer and its EVE players, a move producer Thomas Farrer hopes will appeal to console gamers, he explains in a new Gamasutra feature interview. The shooter, which will launch as a PlayStation Network downloadable game, is under development at CCP's Shanghai studio. Players of Dust will be able to directly interact with EVE players, as it is hooked into the same single shard that powers CCP's MMO. When it comes to Dust, says Farrer, "It was like, 'Okay, so we want to build this kind of persistent shooter that has meaning. What are we going to need to do that? Okay, we're going to need a huge persistent universe populated by thousands of players that's got like politics and intrigue and all of this stuff.' You think, 'Damn, that's going to be really bloody hard to create. But, oh, lucky -- we've already got one!'" Part of the creative drive behind Dust was the developer's desire "to get more people involved in New Eden, in the universe of EVE," Farrer says. "The universe is attractive and interesting. I've heard people say, 'I'm fascinated by the universe, but I can't give it that time investment that it deserves or that it needs.' So, that's really something we're trying to offer with Dust. It is more accessible. Through the connection to that universe and to the players of EVE, you still become part of that meaningful world." However, standing out from the shooter crowd with another space marine-based title may be tough -- if players don't understand what Dust offers over the competition, he acknowledges. "Maybe we need to be more outspoken about that aspect of the game, because I think that's really where the game needs to grip you," he says. The game is due spring 2012. To read more about it, check out Gamasutra's full feature-length interview with Farrer, which is live now.