CCP announced today that they will be releasing the "Exodus" expansion for Eve Online on November 17, 2004.  This expansion will be available free to all registered players of EVE and will add tons of new features and content to the game.  Their official release is below:

It appears that CCP will soon team up with a beverage manufacturer to re-create their in game soft drink "Quafe" here on Earth!  Here is the press release:

CCP Games has just begun allowing their registered players to test the upcoming Shiva expansion.  This expansion will be free to all registered players of EVE and will add many new features and loads of content to the existing game.

For more information on the testing program, click here.

For more information on what the expansion will bring, click here.

Our own Reed Hubbard (Koltrane) has spent many consecutive weeks living inside the virtual world of "EVE Online" - the award winning sci-fi/space MMORPG by CCP Games.  Well, he is back now and ready to share his opinions of the game with our community!  Here is a snippet from his review:

To read the full review simply click here.  If you are interested in taking EVE for a spin, you also might want to check out our 14 Day Trial offer.

CCP Games posted yesterday that they have set a new record for concurrent players online in a single sharded world...10,744!  Here is their official word on this:

You did it again! A new simultaneous player record was set tonight, Sunday, when 10.744 players were on at the same time. This beats the old record by more than 500 players! The EVE game servers ran without any problems during this heavy load, so the recent hardware upgrades and performance tuning is paying off. This also confirms that the game servers are ready for the next release and the expected influx of new players.

UPDATE: It appears that they smashed their record again today.  This time reaching 11,246 players online in a single world.  The snippet from their site on this:

And again! Another player record was set tonight, Monday, when 11.246 players were on at the same time. This is the first time a record is set on a Monday. Again, the servers weren´t affected, leaving us with plenty room for more players. Come and join us, you wont regret it!

Excellent work guys!

"The summer has not been quiet, EVE has been more alive than a bumblebee on honey," begins the latest edition of the EVE Newsletter, which was sent out to subscribers on Sunday, August 8.  Included in this edition are stories about the upcoming EVE Fanfest in Reykjavik and the highly anticipated Shiva expansion, among others.

If you aren't on the mailing list, you can read the newsletter at the official website for EVE.  Just click here.

As many of you know - we issued the last of our exclusive 10,000 Eve Online 14 day trial keys yesterday.  What was thought to be more than enough keys to last the entire month of July barely made it half way there!  We are pleased to announce that we have a new, large batch of keys installed and are ready to start issuing them again!

In addition, due to the enormous success of the offer - CCP and MMORPG.com have agreed to extend this program through the month of August!  If you have not given this great sci-fi MMORPG a try, you can do so at this link.

We have just completely updated our EVE Online gallery to more accurately show the current state of the game.  There are 23 new shots in all - from many different parts of the game.  Click on any of the screens below to open the screen browser:

MMORPG.COM and CCP Games are proud to present an exclusive offer available only to members of MMORPG.COM.  Throughout the month of July 2004 you can obtain a 14 day trial key for EVE Online - the highly acclaimed sci-fi/space MMORPG!

This is a terrific chance for anyone to give EVE Online a try!  This free trial also *does not* require a credit card to play!  Just get your key, download the game and start playing...simple as that!

Registered members of MMORPG.COM can get their trial key at this page: http://www.mmorpg.com/eve_trial.cfm - if you are not a member yet, you can sign up free at this page.

Scheduled for a fall release, Crowd Control is working on the upcoming EVE Online add-on.  The Shiva expansion will include many new features and CCP has updated the Shiva section of the features page with, "...loads of information on the features, updates and changes coming with EVE's future expansion."  Here's a sample:

They are more commonly knowns as dungeons, that consist of many scenarios tied together, are not surrounded by walls and do not have undead space rats. So we call them Complexes. They are multi-leveled with escalating difficulty, have more structured game play, ideal for new players and offer big rewards at the end. They also look pretty damn good. The main difference from single level Scenarios is that structures are destroyable, you need to go through a linear path and the loot drop is more varied since you are shooting down battlestations, not ships, so expect mineral or ore drops, blueprints, various commodities and skills. They will vary in difficulty, usually based 2 to 4 security levels below the security level they are residing in i.e. an Complex in 0.7 space would have 0.5-0.3 difficulty. Commanders and Officers might show up in them, as they will in asteroid belts and other locations, but they are as rare as hair on an Gallente back.

Also, a Shiva Design and Feedback board has been added to the official forums as a place where players and developers may discuss the design aspects of the expansion.

More information on EVE Online may be found by visiting the official home page.

The EVE Online site has posted a new chronicle titled "Tides of Change".  Fans of EVE and the Sci-Fi genre should find it to be a cool read.  Here is a snippet:

Shan stubbed his cigarette on the deck, despite the Kapitan's earlier admonitions about in-station regulations. The old bastard was soft after his years with those paper-pushing Fed Navy pod-wetters, soft as the blubber that hung from him. Besides, with the situation the way it was today, their high and mighty Legionnaire had better things to worry about than a smudge on the platform. Climbing into the pod and fastening himself, Shan reflected on the current state of affairs. Ever since the Alliance had been born, the smattering of independent outfits morphing and mutating into the massive, brutal beast it was today, things just hadn't been the same in Curse. The Salvies had been the first to complain, of course - you couldn't fart in Curse space without the Salvies getting up in arms about it - but within a month it had become clear that this new coalition was nothing to be taken lightly. Squadron after squadron of Cartel fighters had fallen to Alliance battleships as their prized 'roid fields were slowly wrested from their grasp.

Want more?  Follow this link.

Today, April 25, at 3:00pm CDT, the staff of CCP announced in game that EVE has officially broken the 10,000 barrier, meaning that 10,000 players were concurrently signed on to the EVE universe.

This comes on the heels of a hardware upgrade and just before a doubling of the number of servers and an overhaul to the EVE SQL Server cluster.  It appears that the EVE faithful keep getting good news.  This title is definitely on the rise!

Read more about these items and the game itself at the official EVE site.

Buddy Program
The Buddy Program is for current EVE Online subscribers that want to enable their friends to try out EVE Online without any obligations. By clicking on the link below you can send your buddies a free 7-Day Access Pass and have them join you online.

No Hassle Guarantee
This is a no-hassle access pass, which means your friends will NOT have to enter any credit card information to start playing. The only thing they need is to download the game and use the access key they will receive. CCP does not harvest any email addresses so your friends will never receive unsolicited e-mail."

Got a friend? Log in and send them a key here!

 - Malkavian

The offical EVE Online site posted yesterday that they recently had 9,144 player online simutaneously.  Here is the message from their site:

This evening at 20:45, 9.144 played EVE Online at the same time. This is the thirteenth time this year that EVE Online breaks what is probably a world record for highest number of players together, at the same time, in the same persistent 3D world.

Since the Beta Test numerous things have happened and the game has not only grown in stability, but many new features have been implemented that have transformed EVE to what we all hoped it could be. As a token of our appreciation, we are offering you an exclusive 14-day access pass so you can explore the world you took part in creating.

Any former EVE testers who wish to take advantage of this promotion may find more information at this link.

Click here to visit the official EVE Online website.

EVE Online continues to break simultaneous user records.  This weekend they recorded their highest ever user population.

This evening at 21:04, 8,867 played EVE Online at the same time. This is the twelfth consecutive Sunday that EVE Online breaks what is probably a world record for highest number of players together, at the same time, in the same persistent 3D world.

With the impending closing of Earth & Beyond, this number is likely to climb as users migrate to other spaceflight simulations like EVE and Jumpgate, both of which are offering special trials to current E&B players.  

Visit the official EVE Online website here.

As reported on this website, Electronic Arts has announced September 22, 2004 as the date for the closing of Earth & Beyond.  CCP is looking to fill the void by offering existing E&B players a special trial of their space-based MMORPG, EVE Online.

This upgrade program will include a no-obligation free trial of EVE Online and an in-game walkthrough of the game by an EVE volunteer who will explain the differences between the two games and help with the transition into EVE from Earth and Beyond.

The details may be found by following this link.

Eve Online will be officially making changes to the subscription plans for both Europe and the United States as of February 25th, 2004.

"Due to changes in currency rates and value added tax legislation in Europe we must adjust our subscription price plans."

"Our European players will be affected by the European Union E-commerce Directive 2002/38/EC, Regulation 792/2002. This stipulates that all EU residents must pay a Value Added Tax (VAT) on electronically supplied services including online games. We are thus obligated to add a VAT on all payment transactions for customers living within the EU."

In view of this, the pricing structure for Europe will be:"

* VAT included

"For our players in the rest of the world, what affects us is that our revenues are denominated in US dollars, while our expenses are in Icelandic kronas. As you are probably aware of the US dollar has fallen in value quite dramatically in the last couple of years, and that trend doesn't seem to be changing. We can absorb usual currency fluctuations for limited periods but this has been going on for too long a time now."

In view of this, the pricing structure outside Europe will be:

This information and more can be found at the official site http://www.eve-online.com