Introducing DUST 514, a Persistent Shooter from CCP

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Introducing DUST 514, a Persistent Shooter from CCP

Hi everyone! I’m the Community Manager for DUST 514, an upcoming title from CCP. This is the first time you’ll have seen DUST 514 highlighted on the PlayStation.Blog and we’re happy that we can reveal more about our game to you.

DUST 514 is a very different type of game. Yes, many people say this about their respective game titles — everyone thinks their baby is special, right? We really mean it though.

When playing your FPS title of choice, have you ever wished that there was something more to it beyond your rank, weapon unlocks, your kill/death ratio and leaderboard prominence? Those things are all great – but what if those matches you fought in actually meant something? What if your successes and failures against your opponents impacted the course of events in a vast setting, potentially changed a virtual world and the gameplay experience of thousands of other players? More than that, what if that impact was felt across two separate games – one on PS3 and one on PC/Mac – that share the same sci-fi universe?

DUST 514 is that game.

DUST 514 for PS3

The Persistent Shooter Concept

Some may know CCP as the creator of EVE Online, a sci-fi MMO with an open galactic setting. It’s a game perhaps best known for its sweeping fleet battles involving thousands of players, its dynamic player-driven economy, and for having (and allowing!) espionage and spycraft. We think of EVE as the ultimate sci-fi simulation, and that’s where DUST 514 comes in. It’s a whole new way of experiencing the EVE universe through what we call a “persistent shooter”.

“Persistence” is the key word here. The world of DUST 514 doesn’t spawn when you fire up your PlayStation 3 — it’s always there and always being experienced and influenced by other players in the EVE universe. When you take part in events in the EVE universe through combat in DUST 514, you’re taking part in something greater than your own individual experience of that world.

Your Battles Have Impact

Your actions have significance. We think that’s a compelling approach to a game, and something that’s currently lacking in the industry. But impact on what? The EVE universe is made up of thousands of solar systems, each with a number of planets within those systems. Those same planets seen in EVE Online, where the MMO players create various planetary structures and colonies, are the potential battlegrounds of DUST 514.

Your fights impact the entire EVE setting, comprised of both DUST 514 mercenaries and EVE Online starship pilots, known as “capsuleers“. When you capture or destroy planetary structures, you are asserting dominance over regions of that planet – perhaps eventually the planet itself. As you profit while wiping out your opposition in DUST 514, the outcomes of these conflicts can affect territorial control of vast regions of space in EVE Online, something of great importance to EVE’s starship pilots.

But making allies of some capsuleers makes rivals of others… and that’s where things get even more interesting. (Can you say, “orbital strike“?) Players of both games will have ways of influencing each other, and actions will ripple between DUST 514 and EVE Online.

Part of what makes EVE Online uncommon among MMOs is that the open setting allows for emergent gameplay. Large-scale fleet warfare is fought among the stars in complex military campaigns that can span months, while spies can infiltrate corps and funnel sensitive intel to the opposition. Industrialists plot and topple rivals on the financial markets rather than through violence; skilled corps of hired guns settle disputes through… aggressive negotiations. This is just a fraction of what players accomplish in the EVE setting, which DUST 514 mercenaries will find their own unique ways to engage in. The possibilities are all there to become a part of this, but what happens is up to you.

Of course, either game can exist on its own without the EVE-DUST Link, but both sides benefit from it greatly when the players of each respective game choose to use the connections for all they’re worth.
DUST 514 for PS3

A Single Community That Spans DUST 514 and EVE Online

Ah, an aspect of DUST 514 that’s near and dear to my heart. Those friends and enemies you make between the games leads to a great deal of player community interaction. CCP provides the setting with the EVE universe but ultimately it’s you, the players, who really breathe life into it. And people have certainly done so already, long before DUST 514 was even a twinkle in our eye.

EVE Online has history spanning more than eight years, with a vibrant and (usually) mature community linked together through EVE Gate, a social network for EVE players that is tied in with their characters. EVE Online players use it to communicate with their friends and enemies alike, and interact with their corporation even when not playing the game. We will open EVE Gate up to DUST 514 players as well. Opportunities will always be there for those who want to be part of the social fabric of this linked community, the wider EVE setting.

There are definitely challenges ahead, with a unified console and PC gamer community each influencing a shared setting through their respective types of gameplay. Rivalries, alliances and, dare I say, even some drama. Interesting times.

The Virtual Goods Economy

A strength of EVE Online is the depth of its economy. We are taking a similar approach to DUST 514, though we will do so carefully, with a slow integration of economic activity between both titles. (Fun fact: CCP employs two economists to oversee the EVE universe’s virtual economy, one for EVE Online and another focused on DUST 514.)

Virtual goods will be a major part of the in-game economy, and our business model for DUST 514 is built upon digital distribution and virtual goods transactions rather than following the traditional boxed games model. In fact, that’s another key thing that led us to abandon the FPS label in the first place — as a persistent shooter, our approach to creating and operating DUST 514 is more like an MMO. We will continually develop and improve upon DUST 514, but that won’t be funded by going the ‘map pack sales’ route. DUST 514 will have free expansions, and that development will be funded through virtual goods sales. Plus, everyone likes having customization options, right?

The virtual goods themselves will provide all manner of weaponry and defensive technology, vehicles, and more. This perpetual arms race will provide DUST players with variety in their gameplay and an array of virtual goods that supports a chosen playstyle.

“Would you like to know more?”

We are just now beginning to pull back the curtain and reveal more about DUST 514. So this is an important time for CCP, and we’re very much looking forward to bringing you something that’s quite unique in the gaming world. If you’d like to hear more about DUST 514, be sure to check the following for more info over the coming months:

Official website: www.dust514.com

Facebook fan page: www.facebook.com/dust514

Twitter: @dust514 (hashtag is #dust514)

YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/ccpgames

And if you’re a true masochist, you can follow me on Twitter: @ccp_shadow

Now, do you have questions for me about DUST 514? If so, I’ll do my best to answer as many as I can in the comments below.

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242 Comments

93 Author Replies

  • So if I understand right… the concept goes back to a game like Planetside, but with a link to an already online game, that is a planet building level. Or how is it going to work?

  • “DUST 514 will support purchases made through both in-game earned currency and real money currency.”

    This sounds like the whole “Can-only-get-the-GOOD-stuff-if-you-actually-pay-for-it” deal.

    • Nope. It won’t work like that, we’re going to have a balanced system. There will be a secondary market with player-to-player trading. A player can buy virtual goods with real world currency, put it on the market, which can be bought by a player with in-game earned currency. This is explained in greater detail in CCP Praetorian’s dev blog here: http://www.dust514.com/en/news/article/1980/beginnings

  • answer the questions in comment 24…

  • How varied will the map terrain be? Being able to fight on 10,000s of planets is awesome but if there are only a dozen map variants for each type of planet the scenery will get old fast.

    Will fighting be able to take place on hostile planets (barren, lava, ice, plasma, etc) or will it be limited to the temperates? Bonus feature for being able to fight on the floating installations of gas giants and oceanic planets!

    Also, Capsuleers want to shot at the Dust Warbarges (at least damage them a little bit) :D

  • One more question. When will Dust514.com forums go live?

  • Im just wandering what ever happened to DUST514 beeing cross console play?

  • NiteStrikerZero

    This looks like an awesome game!

  • @Bloody_Marcel there will be Move support? The article did not say anything about Move support. Would be pretty awesome though. Hope it is optimized for the Sharpshooter.

  • I’m a little concerned about your statement that you’ll buy weapons and equipment through microtransaction. It sounds a lot like “buying a win”, which was something CCP has stated in the past that they wished to avoid.

    Any comments on this?

  • @NLMX85-USA , yep.

    They announced it during the press conference and it’s also stated on the press release you can check at the dust514 website :)

  • In regards to the Virtual Goods Economy, how is payment gonna work? And (feels like a stupid question) will there be taxes?

  • so will there be a monthly fee? because this game looks uber cool, but I’m not sure if I can afford a monthly fee

    • There will not be a monthly fee to play DUST 514. The game will be supported by virtual goods sales, but of course you can play the game and buy gear with the currency you earn in-game through your successes in combat.

  • Being a 4 year veteran of EVE and hearing everything from rumors about the games development to the official announcement that it was going to be made, ive loved the concept of extending the EVE universe into the PS3. Will there be direct EVE/Dust player interaction though? lets say, having a dreadnaught smack down enemy trenches on the ground, etc etc. would greatly appreciate a response, thx again CCP :)

  • You said it all in your opening statement. This is the kind of shooter game I’ve wanted to play for a long, long time. Star Wars Battlefront had the basic idea and if you go back there have been different versions of the same thing, be they turn based, flight sim or FPS.

    One thing I would like (and therefore, like to know) is the option to pilot vehicles either as an individual or as part of a crew. This could be jets, starfighters, command platforms, artillery, tanks, assault vehicles, etc. They could be run solo or with friends as part of a team who share in the spoils of their successful employ. Think this sort of thing will happen or are we looking a little more exclusively at the merc. grunts in this story.

    Another question this brings to mind is the connection between your pay as a mercenary and the equipment you can buy from this virtual economy. Will there be a crossover between your digital wallet and the real world cash you put into the game (say a 10 : 1 ratio or something like that)?

    Keep moving forward, this is one game that is high on my radar!

    • About vehicles — all I’ll say is that every vehicle you saw in the Pale Red Dot trailer was piloted by a player.

  • in the trailer you showed, i couldn’t tell if the gun was shooting bullets or if it was an energy weapon. the muzzle flash looked blueish, but the “bullets” flying through the air looked like actual bullets

    • That’s a hybrid weapon that fires plasma bolts, something which should be quite familiar to capsuleers in EVE Online. Particularly if you’ve been on the receiving end.

  • I just wonder would it be branching from EVE or would it be something new…

    • Can you clarify please? DUST 514 is part of the EVE universe, the same setting will be shared by EVE Online and DUST 514. EVE Online for space battles, and DUST 514 for shooting people in the face.

  • Looks impressive, and I have been following since FF 2009. <3

    I demand you put the EVE Future Vision on the Dust website.

    My question:
    1)Will Dust use the new EVE-gate forums (Which are currently being worked on)? I want to be able to talk on official forums about dust!

    2) Will there be a Dustelopedia or will it share the evelopedia?

    4)Player Skills
    In EVE, skills were obtained over time through the training queue. Will something similar exist in Dust, or will skill progression occur from battles and experience?

    Thank you for answering our questions, from your NO. 1 fansite ;)

    • Hey Hublebubble,

      I’ll take a stab at what I can here.

      DUST 514 will be tied in with EVE Gate further down the road.

      DUST 514 on EVElopedia – I honestly don’t have the answer on that just yet. It’s something that’s still being discussed.

  • 5) My question is less related to the game play itself and more to marketing and long time planning of the IP. Will CCP be launching a Dust Store with items like DUST mugs (or any kind of products like those on the eve store)? Will CCP be extending funds or assistance to MMM publishing to put out a quarterly publication to bolster the IP? Can we expect to see CCP spaming DUST in my emails the same way they do eve? What is CCP doing to ensure that in the future DUST can port from the current generations consoles to the next gen of consoles and, in the same thought process, what are you doing to make sure that in the future you can upgrade the game like you did with trinity upgrade?

    Eh, one final question. <3

    • So many questions. :) All yours or collectively submitted?

      I can’t speak to the biz dev questions you’ve asked about store items like mugs, and people have also asked if there will be DUST-themed controllers, a DUST print magazine (as we have with E-ON Magazine and EVE Online), and things of this nature. All good questions, good ideas, but it’s totally outside of my area here at CCP.

      I really try to only speak to those questions I’m able to — which, today, is a general introduction to the DUST 514 concept and more community-focused questions.

  • Wow, reading this has really just blown my mind; I’m incredibly excited to learn more, but I have 1 question for right now; will there be monthly fees to play this?

  • Hopefully I can get in on this closed beta later this year as I have friends who play EVE Online and I am really interested in this game. It looks great from the trailer and I can’t wait to see it in action.

  • DRAT! I just saw you mention there will NOT be any monthly fees. Is there no way to edit our posts on here?

  • Ive been a Eve player for a little over a year, and i must say the game continues to get better and better. Dust 514 looks to be a truly amazing game. Have you guys ever considered having Dust players controlled by one Eve player to board another Eve players ship to fight over control of the ship because that would just be down right AMAZING!!!(and give a new definition to piracy)

    • Ideas of this nature were discussed at the past EVE Online Fanfest in Reykjavik. Needless to say, we loved what we heard, but at this time ship boarding is not what we’re focused on. DUST 514 is focused on planetary combat.

  • Will active subscribers of EVE-Online get an advance entry into the DUST beta?

    Will EVE-Online players actually be able to manufacture weapons/armor/vehicles and then sell them to players of DUST 514 for ISK?

    How much will DUST cost (in USD) when it’s released?

    Will there be any benefits for PlayStation Plus members, such as free content or a discount on the game?

    Finally, will DUST 514 be available for purchase on the PlayStation Network?

    Thank you in advance for your reply.

  • Thank you for answering my question. The devblog has indeed given me more confidence that CCP will handle this prudently.

    As for my next question, when can we expect more gameplay details, and will it come in the form of a blog or will it have its own section?

    • You’re welcome.

      The main info you will want to follow along with will be what we discuss in the DUST 514 dev blogs. And, no doubt, there will be some media coverage of DUST 514 this week that may also shed some light on aspects of DUST 514 gameplay.

  • I’m asking this completely honest: I don’t care about the MMO universe, what is the hook or appeal for me a non-MMO shooter fan? Yes, I know of the link. No, I don’t care. What is there to appeal to me with games like Call of Duty or Battlefield or other shooters (some sci-fi, most not) coming out?

    • The most compelling aspect of DUST 514 is that your battles are meaningful. You conquer territory working with EVE players, or you can do the same with your fellow DUST 514 mercs. DUST 514 is a persistent world, something that other titles out there just don’t offer.

  • Thank you so much i been waiting for this day for 2 years just to hear sumthing more about dust i wonder how many player in one space im a mag player and i been waiting for sumthing big like this for so long i hope this game kills and i know it will u could expect a pre-order from me thank you agian

  • Hey James!

    Do you know Adrian Majkrzak? What do you think of him?

  • DUST 514 is an attempt to break away from the norm of console FPS. I don’t think CCP wants the game to be anything like Call of Duty or Battlefield, except for the fact that you’re shooting people. It looks like a great game, but it’s not traditional in any sense of the word.

  • I’m really looking forward to this game! My jaw dropped when I saw you guys come on stage. I’ve always been interested in Eve Online, but never joined up due to the seemingly high barrier to entry. I really want to take part in the beta for Dust 514. Will there be a tutorial, or some sort of mechanic to introduce new players to the Eve Universe and get them up and running in Dust?

  • I like the look of the game but the EVE Online interaction just brings up a lot of questions.

    The main one being, what incentives to players have if they don’t play EVE? I see a lot of benefits to Dust 514 if you operate in the EVE universe but why will players pick up this FPS over others that are out or coming out (especially with all the new announcements from E3)?

    • Adrance, the people that DUST 514 will most appeal to are those who want something different from the latest FPS title that they play for a few months, perhaps through a DLC map pack, and move on. DUST 514 is a persistent setting that your actions influence and shape. That’s really what DUST offers that differs from what’s currently out there.

  • was battlefield 2142 inspiration for some of the concepts

  • @leptoonERs: I get that. But I’m never going to play the PC game/MMO, so that social link aspect doesn’t really strike a cord with me. So, that’s my question: What is left for those of that don’t really have a stake in the MMO?

  • swordfishkatana

    Hey Shadow

    Will us Demi-Gods of EvE be able to sell things to these land based punks??

  • >> The main one being, what incentives to players have if they don’t play EVE? I see a lot of benefits to Dust 514 if you operate in the EVE universe but why will players pick up this FPS over others that are out or coming out (especially with all the new announcements from E3)?

    Exactly what I’m asking in a better said way! Outside of the link that is interesting, I don’t see a good “hook” to get people into the game. Again, there is other shooters on the market that’ll come out and I can see this totally being passed over by those of us (like me) that don’t really have a stake to claim in the EVE universe.

    I don’t mean to disrespect the blog writer or his company, but that’s the major curiosity to me.

  • i’m guessing that it won’t be released this year, given how you just announced it and how massive a project it will be. is it looking like it will be ready sometime next year for release?

  • How many players will this game support?

  • This looks amazing. I only played EVE for a few months because I couldn’t afford it money or time wise, but I loved it. I’ve been thinking about getting back into it recently and then this appears. Great to see something so fresh come to gaming.

  • It does remind me of HALO

  • omg this game blew me away i think this game maybe to me a first day buy all depends on if i like the beta

  • I am very glad that you have decided not to charge any monthly fee’s for this game, that was the one thing that would have kept me and I’m sure others from buying this. Looks EPIC I will be buying ON DAY ONE.

    Also when the game is released is there any talk about releasing different special editions of the game? or a pre-order perk?

  • I can’t get over how much I want to play this game. I’ve been playing EVE on and off for quite a few years now, and I’m really looking forward to this. Please post here when sign-ups for the beta start!!!

  • swordfishkatana

    nitroz76 on June 6th, 2011 at 8:56 pm said:

    How many players will this game support?

    Hey Nitroz76

    I have been playing EvE Online for 3 years now and I can’t say anything bad about CCP, the amzing thing that CCP has done with EvE is we are all on one server in as CCP likes to call it one huge sandbox playing together on average when I log in which i have done everyday for the past 3 years, except patch day, which are free I might add, there are generally 52,000 players online at any one time, this isnt like WoW where you are in your own shard, you can interact with any one of those 52,000 players and you can effect them all by what you or your corporation or Alliance of many corporation does while you are online, this is the only MMO I will ever play until Dust comes out, I’m very eager to see how this consol platform will help my corporation and Alliance in EvE and how I can best utilise this game to enhance my EvE power base.

    P.S. CCP Shadow do I get my Nyx now???

    Just contract it to tereliss verr please, cheers bud ;)

  • Ok, after reading your dev blog on the site, I am blown away. I am absolutely ecstatic about this game now. :)

    Thank you for bringing this game to our system. :)

  • Are you worried about the PS3 not having the target audience to support a shooter of this scale? The Xbox 360 is well known for it’s shooter base, so aren’t you limiting your options here?

  • This game looks amazing and i love the idea of the game effecting EVE online and vice versa. It gives the game dynamic and depth. Please say there is gonna be a clan option and i dont mean option and i dont mean were you just put tags on i mean actual Clan management were we can invite members and have wars. That would bring alot of interest and players to your game. I cant wait to play when it releases.

    • Corporations are an important aspect of DUST 514, and there is far more depth to the system than simply ‘invite to Clan’ tools. Corps are a core aspect of the social gameplay that DUST 514 and EVE Online both offer.

  • looks great. you guys did awesome at e3. thanks for all the info.

  • OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGONOMNOMNOMNOM….anyway, if I had the ability to make girlish fan girl noises, and bare children, I would do so…gosh that’s horrible, but this game is awesome…but I’m already an avid EVE player…been following EVE since ’04 (sadly only was able to afford an account after ’07, but I’ve got almost got 45mil SP…so I’m doing good…) anyway, now that I’m done fangasming, I have a serious question for CCP; are there going to be female Dust soldiers? If women are good enough to be capsuleers, I’d think they’d be good enough to be Dust soldiers…especially some of the Caldari and Minmatar ones. Or are the females going to remain as battle commanders/personnel coordinators? Either way you’ve got yourselves +1 Dust soldier waiting for marching orders….which will probably be coming from myself.

    Thanks in advance.

    • I welcome your girlish fan girl noises, but no need to bear children. Glad you’re excited, we are too at CCP. Looking forward to your +1 to the DUST mercenary ranks.

  • Ruthless_Gravity

    Now this is a game I can get behind. As a former EVE Online player, I honestly cannot wait for this game to be released.

  • Wow, that games looking great. So, what exactly is the concept for ground battle? Is it like a conquest mode, where you take territories on each planet till you conquer it or is there some different setup?

  • Will there be a way for eve online players to monitor the battles going on on the planets (camera drones)?

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