I love a space game that has a real mood to it, and the primordial cosmic void of EVE Frontier is moodier than a teenage thundercloud. Between the ancient megastructures you'll start the game exploring, and the looming stargates you'll construct as the game goes on, CCP's latest space MMO has an atmosphere so thick and abrasive it's likely to scour the paint off the hull of your freighter.
That was my main takeaway from the new trailer shown during the PC Gaming Show 2025. But the thing you should probably know is that you can now explore these spooky cosmic vessels yourself. EVE Frontier is opening up its galaxy to all players.
Like its sister-game EVE Online, Frontier is a hardcore, player-driven space MMO. But there are a couple of key differences between the two. For starters, Frontier aims to be a darker more foreboding experience than Online. You play as a Rider, essentially a clone dispatched into the Frontier with the goal of rebuilding civilization.
These celestial fringes are littered with the remnants of an ancient spacefaring race. To begin the rebuilding process, you'll delve into giant, treacherous ruins to extract resources (such as an energy-rich substance called Crude Matter) and also encounter strange cosmic phenomena as you explore.
You can play EVE Frontier as a lone explorer, or you can try to form 'Tribes' with other players. Either way, you'll be able to construct your own settlements and even stargate for more efficient travel across the galaxy. You'll also have to defend these structure from other players, engaging in tactical third-person space combat.
Eve Frontier also promises to be a highly moddable MMO, with an emphasis on letting players build their own bases, factions, and even private economies. As part of this, Frontier utilises blockchain tech. As Ted explained back in February, the idea here is to establish a "digital physics" system to lock-in the game's balance, and let players get creative within a ruleset that doesn't require constant adjustment from CCP. The trailer states that, so far, this has enabled players to create their own tournaments, training hubs and security systems.
Up to this point, Frontier's "Founder's Access" phase has been a closed alpha, accessible to only a limited number of players. As of June 11, though, the game will be fully public. This move coincides with a new update to Frontier called "Promised Lands", which will introduce a bunch of new features to the game. This includes 'Cycles', a seasonal system where players can earn points and rewards by completing in-game missions and other activities.
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Rick has been fascinated by PC gaming since he was seven years old, when he used to sneak into his dad's home office for covert sessions of Doom. He grew up on a diet of similarly unsuitable games, with favourites including Quake, Thief, Half-Life and Deus Ex. Between 2013 and 2022, Rick was games editor of Custom PC magazine and associated website bit-tech.net. But he's always kept one foot in freelance games journalism, writing for publications like Edge, Eurogamer, the Guardian and, naturally, PC Gamer. While he'll play anything that can be controlled with a keyboard and mouse, he has a particular passion for first-person shooters and immersive sims.
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