This year marks the 20th anniversary of EVE Online, CCP Games’ spacefaring RPG. And while it might be slightly past its zenith in terms of player population, the numbers are still mighty impressive. During an interview with the CEO, Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, The Nerd Stash learned that the EVE Online franchise sees monthly active players of around 1 million.
EVE Online Player Count Is Still Impressive
Speaking with Pétursson in Iceland last month while attending EVE Fanfest 23, he explained that COVID-19 saw a big surge in player numbers. A massive 30% increase, in fact, which marked the return of old veterans and all-new adventurers to New Eden’s cosmos. Those numbers have since settled back down over the past 18 months, but interest in the franchise remains really strong.
I think our monthly active user base across all formats is about a million. That includes mobile, EVE china, etc — all versions of the game: Monthly Active Players are 1 million.
Hilmar Veigar Pétursson
Asked whether that was a number that he was happy with, Pétursson went on to highlight that CCP was less focused on the raw number of players and more on the level of engagement from them, and their reception to the content CCP is offering.
I think it’s less about the numbers, per se, and more about the engagement. I mean, this is the biggest Fanfest, and people are very happy. Obviously, twenty years is a bit of a feature, but I think we’re representing good stuff and we’ve been delivering good stuff in the most reason expansions. That is more of a leading indicator than a lacking indicator of how many people are playing right.
It doesn’t really matter for the future. How many people are playing right now informs very little in a way. We can always increase that if we do the right thing. EVE is not going out of fashion. It’s innovative beyond measure, like there’s nothing like it. If we continue to make it better, it will be enjoyed by more by more people. It’s really just on us. It’s not really on how many people are playing it right now
Hilmar Veigar Pétursson
There’s certainly plenty in the pipeline for EVE Online players to get excited about. Announced as part of the Fanfest 23 keynote, CCP has a plethora of new content coming in its latest Havoc expansion. Elsewhere, there’s a new 4X mobile spin-off called Galaxy Conquest, as well as a new FPS “module” called Vanguard that should appeal to players old and new.
The interview quotes featured in this article are part of a wider discussion that will published later this week. Keep your eye out for more EVE Online coverage from The Nerd Stash.
