The spreadsheet game comes to spreadsheets
Live at Fanfest in Iceland today, developer CCP has shared multiple news tidbits for EVE, including an EVE Online Excel tool. The event is packed with info actually, so let’s try and break it down bit by bit.
Everything announced at EVE Fanfest 2022:
- CCP is adding a set of “narrative-driven updates,” including an expansion finale in the fourth quarter of 2022.
- The new player experience (NPE) will continue to evolve, with the AIR Career Program, which nudges players into four paths for further instruction: explorer, industrialist, enforcer, or soldier of fortune.
- A localized Spanish client is coming in “late 2022.”
- CCP has developed a partnership with Microsoft to export data from EVE “directly into Excel.”
- A new trailer just dropped that’s focused on the Caldari homeworld.
The EVE Online Excel partnership might be the most interesting portion of the set of announcements actually. CCP told us that EVE players can use a JavaScript API in Excel to “seamlessly export data from EVE.” This includes formulas for profit margins and battle strategies, and is said to add extra accessibility to the game.
EVE creative director Bergur Finnbogason noted that the game is about to enter “it’s third decade” (read: the game arrived in 2003, so it’ll have been in operation for over 20 years soon), and “the future has never been brighter.” That future includes “audio and visual overhauls,” as well as better in-game models and particle effects, as well as enhancements to the 3D HUD and further building customization through structure SKINs.
