CCP reveals new EVE-based FPS, an "evolution of Project Legion"

Dust 514 is a free-to-play FPS spin-off of EVE Online that launched in 2013, unfortunately as a PlayStation 3 exclusive. CCP salved that wound somewhat a year later when it announced Project Legion, a game similar to Dust 514, but more able to leverage the power of PCs. But now it appears that things have changed: Dust 514 is going offline later this year, and while the planned PC shooter is still in the works, it doesn't sound like it's Project Legion anymore.

“CCP’s development team in Shanghai has been working on a prototype for a first-person shooter for PC with the goal of building a great FPS set in our sci-fi universe of New Eden (the universe in which EVE Online, Dust 514, EVE: Valkyrie, and Gunjack are set). Their experience is being utilized to build a new game from scratch using Unreal Engine 4 while harnessing all our learnings from Dust 514,” CCP announced today in the Dust 514 forums.

“This is in many ways an evolution of Project Legion, the concept we announced at EVE Fanfest 2014, but without the limitations of technical debt and development paths we quickly discovered in that effort that could never serve as a future-proof technology base for a full production game,” it continued. “This new project is still in an early phase of production, and we feel like we’re on the right track and plan to give an update at EVE Fanfest on April 21st as a part of the free livestream of the event.”

So Project Legion as it was envisioned in 2014 is over, but something like it is sprouting from the soil into which it bled: A sequel to a game that was never released, if you like. Whether that represents a cancellation of the game, or just a hard left turn in the development process, is probably a question of semantics; I asked CCP about it and was told that nothing more will be revealed until Fanfest. However you look at it, work on an EVE-based dude-shooting experience of one sort or another is still underway, and that's good news.

The bad news, at least for PS3 owners, is that Dust 514 is being shut down on May 30. Sorry, folks.

Thanks, PCGamesN.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.