"We are very pleased to see players embrace EVE with such enthusiasm and addictiveness. This further confirms our conviction that many gamers enjoy the unique open ended game style EVE offers, compared to the traditional structure gameplay", says Magnus Bergsson, CMO at CCP, "It has always been the goal to offer players an intellectual challenge where they have to bring something to table, instead of placing them in a virtual theme-park where the rides have already been created. This does though require a certain level of understanding and cunningness from the players if they are to be successful in this highly competitive and political world."
The subscriber record follows on the heals of multiple concurrent player records in the month of September, with the last record standing at close to 12,000 concurrent players in the same virtual 3D world. EVE is not sharded into to separate worlds, and in its current form estimated to be capable of supporting at least 25,000 simultaneous players.
"The amazing fact of this important milestone is that EVE Online is the debut game for CCP" says Hilmar Veigar Pétursson CEO/CTO, "The EVE Online team is made up of individuals form various disciplines; we have individuals from physics, literature, music, software engineering, graphic design, traditional painting, etc. This in part explains why so many regard EVE as a breath of fresh air into the current market dynamic".
EVE Online is highly focused on cooperative play and interactions between in-game corporations, so the increase in active subscriber count will improve the game instead of simply having more players doing the same. Richness and variety of interaction available between people rises dramatically with the number of people that can actually interact. With ten thousand people you have over hundred million possible link options at any given time, something users can not experience when games are sharded into smaller sections.
EVE Online is a open-ended MMOG, while most other MMOG's focus on a structured playing style with predictable outcomes and leveling. This seemingly innocent fact is why EVE is fundamentally different from other MMOG's, as it is the players that have the greatest impact on how the game develops.
EVE Online is set in a world of galactic magnitude, governed by a hyper-capitalistic economy. The aim is to establish yourself as a major mover and shaker, trusted by your friends and respected by your enemies. Your main tools to accomplish this, apart from the whole panoply of sophisticated equipment, space ships and corporations will be your business acumen and social skills, Machiavellian thinking and cunning combat strategies.