Eve and Steam are now one. That means new players can sign-up, manage and cancel their subscriptions via Valve’s grey omni-service. And it likely also means exciting things for the future of the game’s devoted community.
There’s already a Steam icon affixed to Eve’s login page. If you buy an Eve activation key on Steam from today, you can use your existing Steam credentials throughout your dealings with CCP rather than set up a separate account.
What’s more, Eve players who purchase the game from today will be able to pay directly for subs and PLEX packages via Valve.
“We first started offering EVE Online on Steam in March 2008,” say CCP. “Since then tens of thousands of players entered the EVE universe though this medium, and we want to take this cooperation even further: after all, Steam is the world’s largest gaming platform.
“We also took an opportunity to clean up the product description for EVE Online, update the artwork, fix the client deployment process and introduce the new Starter Pack for new players instead of a generic game activation key.”
You’ll have noticed, though, that none of these Steam improvements yet apply to existing players. CCP plan to evaluate the feedback and data they receive in the wake of the new features, and acknowledge there may be an “opportunity” to open up the new subs and PLEX purchase options to longtime players. The developers are quick to point out, however, that pricing is identical across Steam and the official Eve site.
“Other aspects of Steam we are potentially very interested in are the Community Hub and Steam Workshop,” add the developers. “Our community team has already started looking into the possibilities here, and we would love to hear your feedback on this as well.”
What sort of user-created content might CCP authorise to come through the Workshop? Pilot outfits?