When EVE: Incursion launches, the team will be rolling out the new art and models for NPCs and player characters. Players will have the opportunity to recreate their avatars when the update deploys. As devs admit, character art is one of the few parts of the game that has remained as it was on the game's launch in 2003. CCP has created unique models for each bloodline,race and gender, along with new hairstyles and clothes.
Does that mean you are releasing Incarna now?
No, just characters. This is a major overhaul in terms of art and technology, and paves the way for allowing you to explore the corridors of space stations in subsequent expansion. Yes, just to be clear, Incarna, the expansion where you can walk around as an avatar is not coming out this winter, but the first release of it is planned to come out next summer, in 2011. However, in the same way we introduced new planet graphics in Dominion and then Planetary Interaction one expansion later, we are introducing updated avatar graphics now in Incursion.
Redoing the characters of EVE Online is a major task. Not just technically, but also in terms of art and story. We tried to stay true to the spirit and style of each race and bloodline, while improving and refining the style and, in a way, correcting the mistakes of the past. However, we are very much aware that we are changing the face of your avatars. The characters have represented you since you started playing the game, and we realize that many have strong emotional ties with the character or look that they had created. Famous personas from the EVE community will have a brand-new face.
Read more here.
