EVE Online Is Getting Its Third History Book As Empires of EVE Volume 3 Is Announced

EVE Online is getting a third history book, as EVE historian Andrew Groen has announced the third - and final - volume in his Empires of EVE series.

Groen, who has written for publications such as Wired, has written two volumes chronicling the history of EVE Online's great player empires from when EVE Online's lights went on through 2016. The history is told through firsthand accounts of players who were on the front lines and in the thick of the action at the time, as well as old forum posts and other written sources Groen could work from, piecing together the history of one of the most influential MMOs in history.

Personally speaking as someone who first started covering EVE without ever actually playing it, Empires of EVE was a great resource to simply learn about the MMO's past and why it has become so important to the fabric of online games. Volume One, along with meeting players at my first Fanfest in 2017, helped to really sell me on undocking and flying internet spaceships of my own. 

Now, Groen is embarking on the third volume, chronicling the end of the MMO's first twenty years in operation.

"The Empires of EVE saga will cover 20 years of this incredible game's history. EVE Online itself may live on forever," Groen says in a post on X. "For Empires of EVE this will be the final chapter because this volume will bring the stories of so many characters to a conclusion."

Groen has used Kickstarter in the past to help fund the book, but this time he does state he's approaching the third volume a bit differently at first. Pointing to a Substack link, Groen states he'll be "building the book" on the Substack and move to a Kickstarter once it's finished to "fund printing of the finished volume."

For those who want to read before the printing, Groen states in the welcome post of his new Substack that subscribers of at least $6 per month can read a chapter of the book every month as he finishes the volume. However, Groen acknowledges there are risks in not simply using Kickstarter to fund the project initially, as had been the case with the last two volumes.

"To be clear, there are risks in this approach. The biggest risk is that this publication may not attract enough support to fund research and writing. If it’s not able to do that then I’ll have to take on other work that will slow down production. I believe the potential benefits outweigh the risks. But it also underscores to me the need to be open with you all that this publication needs your support. I can’t do this without you."

You can read the first parts of Groen's latest work, "A Eulogy for Death: Parts 1 and 2" right now, with the next chapter already teased: "The God Emperor of Goon." The first two volumes are available for purchase in both print and audiobook versions