EVE Online developer CCP Games is ramping up the narrative heading into November's Havoc expansion, and the team breaks down the design process behind the new Zarzakh region and the Deathless Circle at the center of the expansion.
Zarzakh, which is a new region of New Eden that opened during EVE Fanfest last month, is one of the more unique and beautiful regions in known space. The dangerous new system showcases so much of the EVE Evolved graphics upgrade initiative that the team has been talking about the last few years, with stunning volumetric clouds hovering throughout the region alongside new dangers and things to explore.
At the center of it all is the new Deathless Circle, which is inviting players, as well as two of the in-game pirate factions, to help sow chaos throughout New Eden, though to what end is unclear. To uncover a bit of the thought process behind the new region, CCP Games released a new video talking about the development of the region.
In the video, CCP Loki talks about some of the impetus to design the region, especially as CCP tries to expand the storytelling on offer in the EVE universe. One major driving factor was the desire to do something with the Jovians, a faction that has had little done with them in the decades that EVE has been in operation.
As a result, much of Zarzakh was created to reflect Jovian technology, from the station called The Fulcrum, to Jovian Observatories that dot the many areas around the system. Zarzakh itself, according to CCP Loki, is envisioned as an "ancient Jovian transport hub."
"It has Jovian relics, [a] Jovian station, and it provides a very coll background for the Pirates, and also provides us with a very cool starting point in continuing with the Jove story," CCP Loki says in the video.
You can check out the full video in the embed above. EVE Online's Havoc update is set to launch on November 14th. In recent EVE Online news, the team detailed the awakening of Zarzakh in a new Pulse video, as well as kicked off its Crimson Harvest event.