As the
EVE Online creators ramp things up for the free
Apocrypha expansion due out next week, lead designer Noah Ward sat down with MTV's Multiplayer blog to discuss the future of the game and what characteristics continue to keep players interested. Ward says they've
considered branching out to consoles, but ended up deciding that the game doesn't really lend itself to console play. He left the door open to using smartphones for "augmenting" gameplay. Ward also mentioned that upcoming space MMOs
Jumpgate: Evolution and
Star Trek Online are so different from
EVE that they're not really worried about direct competition;
EVE thrives in part because of the player-generated drama and
scandals, which few games pull off as well. Massively has gathered
a variety of details about the
Apocrypha expansion, which includes
the game's first epic mission arc, and they've also posted some
screenshots. CCP Games
launched a website for the expansion containing concept art and interviews with some of the developers.