Played in first person view, Dual Universe takes place in a vast realistic universe made of millions of planets, and focuses on emergent collective gameplay based around exploration, mining, crafting, trade, politics and warfare.

The concept of Dual Universe is described by Novaquark as a “Boundless MMO”: based on an innovative server technology called CSSC (Continuous Single-Shard Cluster), the game enables everybody to play in the same world, at the same time, without any slicing of the game universe into instances or zones. In addition, for the first time in a single-shard MMO, the world is entirely modifiable and an unlimited number of players will be free to build together, cooperate or compete. The focus has been made on giving the keys back to the MMORPG fans: using the building blocks provided by the game, the in-game community will make the choices and create the content they will play in.

Novaquark announced that Dual Universe has reached its public Pre-Alpha stage and that the game’s first live public playable build was available on September 30th. Access was granted to about 2,500 Kickstarter and crowdfunding backers that have pledged at Gold Founder level and above, prior September 7th.

“Following up our recent global $7.4M mark in fundraising, this public Pre-Alpha milestone is very important to us and our community. Our proprietary CSSC (Continuous Single-Shard Cluster) and voxel engine technologies are now benchmarked for the first time with real players and not just bots." explained Jean-Christophe Baillie, CEO at Novaquark.

He went on: “It is truly amazing to think that when you see a moon in the sky, it’s actually there, you can fly to it with a proper spaceship. And you could carve out half of it, given enough time, as the world is entirely editable. Everyone will see it. This kind of giant continuous world experience has never been seen before in gaming. We can’t wait to see what people are going to build over the next weeks.”

Beyond its initial release, Dual Universe is set to be a long term continuous development project and will grow with regular updates.

Novaquark is building a virtual world environment where they hope millions of people will be able to live exciting collective adventures within a vibrant and emergent universe where everything is possible. The company aims at creating a new form of entertainment, where participants are free to create their own stories and environment.

Dual Universe Gameplay Features

• Boundless Massively Multiplayer Game: potentially millions of players can share the same universe at the same time. One world, no boundaries, no zones, no instances.
• Rich emergent gameplay mechanisms enable players to create their own societies.
• Fully editable world: dig, deploy, craft, create and shape almost everything.
• Giant player-made ships and constructions can be inhabited and host large crews.
• Immersive first person view in a futuristic sci-fi universe.
• Realistic in-game economy (based on market orders and financial tools).
• Scriptable constructions (ships, buildings, etc.) using LUA: players can build their own piloting, AI or factory automation.

Technological Features

• Continuous Single-Shard Cluster: the technology behind the “Boundless” MMO approach.
• Procedurally generated planets, revealed as players explore further and further.
• 25cm precision voxel technology to modify the environment or construct buildings/ships
• Unlimited LOD (Level of Detail) technology allows planet-sized construction to be built
• 64bit Planetary Engine: Smooth transitions from planet surfaces, through atmosphere and into space with no limits to how far the player can travel or see.