EVE General Discussion

I really think all of this talk about tablets/touchscreens replacing the PC/laptop is a bunch of hype. I believe the reality is is that desktops and laptops have reached the point of market saturation, and as the market has become saturated, existing PC/laptop has slowed.

There hasn't really been that much of a technological change in software that necessarily requires the replacement of a 2008 computer in 2013. Yet, on the other hand, there is extremely rapid turnover in ownership of smartphones - the typical person goes through several in the time a typical PC/laptop owner replaces their computer.

The entire cell phone industry heavily incentivizes the rapid, serial discardment of old phones and replacement with new ones.

So, in that regard, comparing smartphone to PC/laptop sales is a false comparison. It is really apples and oranges. On the spectrum between disposable and durable goods, smartphones tend toward the disposable end, while PCs/laptops tend toward the durable end. Something like 130 million cell phones are discarded each year in the US, whereas computers are discarded at about 10-15% that rate.

With tablets, they may be replacing the laptop for consumers with relatively minimal needs, but I'd say this segment of the consumer place are mostly not the type of people who were intensive gamers to begin with.

They don't understand just how much versatility you give up to adopt a tablet as your primary computing device.

You only say this because you haven't tried to adapt a control structure as complicated as Eve's onto a touch screen. Complicated systems like Eve do not translate well to iPads and similar devices.

-A Game Developer

You only say this because you haven't tried to adapt a control structure as complicated as Eve's onto a touch screen. Complicated systems like Eve do not translate well to iPads and similar devices.

-A Game Developer

CCP recently indulged in a bit of self-congratulation following widespread media coverage of their 450,000th paid EVE subscription. Mainstream news outlets, including Forbes, actually remarked on the game’s success despite its venerability and outdated subscription model. EVE is proving unexpected staying power, growing steadily while other MMOs such as WoW have struggled to retain monthly customers.

All this attention might suggest the future of EVE is rosy and bright, but consider:

- The future of traditional x86 and x64 PC architecture is increasingly vague. Laptops have been outselling desktop systems for years, but tablet sales are gaining exponentially. A whopping 122 million ARM-based tablets and smartphones sold in 2012.

- Within two years, ARM devices will account for more than half of all personal computer sales.

- 97% of those devices will employ touch as their primary input. A full 50% will support gesture input and 10% will natively display stereoscopic 3D.

- The PC gaming industry has little appetite for Windows 8, as evidenced by leaders such as Valve Software. Valve is currently backing an aggressive transition to Steam for Linux, with a repository of 40 games and counting already available to open-source users. Valve is also throwing support behind Oculus Rift, a revolutionary developing virtual reality system.

All this points to something CCP isn't admitting: their flagship game title could soon become too damn inconvenient to play if it remains bound for all time to traditional PCs.

For the moment, EVE’s subscribers are loyal and (on the whole) pleased with the status quo. CCP just completed their 18th successful expansion, filling EVE with upgrades and goodies ranging from simplified combat functions to baffling trading cards. Players are heavily invested in EVE, emotionally, financially, and otherwise.

But ARM and other mobile technologies are maturing fast, with multi-core processors, dedicated GPUs, and beautiful multi-touch displays claiming long-established PC territory, both in performance and sales. As our PCs age, we will replace them with touch-based multipurpose tablets, hybrid smartphones, and lord-knows-what other concoctions of techno-wizardry. Those who do choose a traditional PC may find Windows taking a backseat to Ubuntu and other platforms. The fact that these devices refuse to run EVE-Online will not deter us from choosing the device suited to our increasingly busy and mobile lives.

What’s troubling is that, to date, CCP has offered almost no interest beyond traditional PCs. They pulled official support for Linux in 2009, citing low usage. Fanfest attendees went wild last spring when CCP purportedly demonstrated EVE being tested on Android. But nearly a full year later, with no updates, no announcements, and no beta, we’re no longer convinced. It’s become clear CCP will never support many of the bleeding-edge technologies we most covet – mobile computing, open source operating systems, stereoscopic 3D, touch and gesture input, and virtual reality.

I predict a tipping point, perhaps one to two years in the future, where EVE fans, torn between a device that suits their needs and a device that runs EVE, will inevitably cancel their subscriptions and embrace a new era of personal computing. CCP will trumpet new expansions, drop all the tweaks and player content their little hearts desire, and even lower subscription prices, but the damage will be done.

CCP has time to pull it together, but it’s understandably harder and less interesting than designing new battlecruisers or tweaking mining yields. Bringing internet spaceships to a new generation of devices demands a complete interface overhaul, perhaps even a full-scale client rewrite. But in EVE’s greatest challenge lies also its greatest opportunity. Mobile and open-source gaming platforms are bringing accessibility and exposure to untouched masses. If CCP can’t get excited about retaining existing gamers, maybe the prospect of millions of potential new subscribers will whet their appetite for the job at hand.