Dust 514

Did You Know?

• Dust 514 did not require a monthly subscription, unlike Eve Online.
• The game had two currencies: Aurum, which could be earned or bought with real money, and ISK, similar to but non-fungible with Eve Online's ISK.
• CCP's chief marketing officer David Reid compared the business model to that of League of Legends.

Setting

Dust 514 was set in the same fictional universe as Eve Online, a science fiction MMORPG taking place 21,000 years in the future. Humanity had exhausted Earth's resources and colonized the Milky Way using faster-than-light travel, leading to competition among space-faring corporations. A natural wormhole was discovered, and humanity entered a new galaxy to colonize, but the wormhole collapsed, cutting off the colonies. Many colonies died, and survivors lost knowledge of their technology and origins. Civilization eventually rebuilt, and five interstellar powers emerged: the Amarr, Caldari, Gallente, Jove, and Minmatar. In Eve Online, players are capsuleers—immortal starship pilots using cloning technology. The discovery of a special implant allowed consciousness transfer without a capsule, enabling the creation of immortals who were not pilots. Dust 514 players took the role of these immortal ground-based soldiers, created by the military shortly after the implant was discovered.

Gameplay

Dust 514 was a first-person shooter with massively multiplayer online elements. Combat occurred on planets from Eve Online, each with unique maps and sockets. Planets were divided into districts containing resources and installations fought over in Planetary Conquest battles. The natural landscapes were constant, but building placement was controlled by player corporations. Infantry used dropsuits, similar to ship hulls in Eve Online, with module slots for weapons, equipment, and skins. Entities had two health meters—Shields and Armor—each with advantages and disadvantages; some weapons dealt more damage to one type. Skill training, similar to Eve Online, was available; CCP stated it would take seven years to train all skills, encouraging specialization. Player-driven vehicles could be transported via rapid deployment vehicles and shared the modular fitting system of dropsuits, though modules cost more.

Development

Dust 514 was announced on August 18, 2009, at the Game Developers Conference in Cologne, Germany, with a trailer featuring real-time footage. In 2010, CCP updated Eve Online with the Tyrannis expansion, introducing planetary interaction that allowed players to harvest resources from planets. A developer blog noted that while the expansion did not include planetary combat, Dust 514 would handle combat for attack and defense of planetary installations, giving players a reason to fight over planets. CCP licensed Unreal Engine 3 from Epic Games China in 2010. At E3 2011, it was confirmed as a PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita exclusive, with a beta planned for late 2011 and a summer 2012 release, but CCP delayed it to 2013 for further improvement. The game was initially planned as cross-platform with Xbox 360, but CCP dropped that due to Sony's more open platform allowing connection to the Eve Online server Tranquility. Dust 514 also used Havok middleware. It connected to Tranquility on January 10, 2013. To manage performance, CCP designed server architecture with battle clusters worldwide handling latency-sensitive aspects, while the main Eve cluster in London communicated only for data like character names.

Reception

Before release, Dust 514 was considered innovative for its connection to another game. IGN called it highly ambitious and a glimpse of the future, while PC Gamer praised the orbital bombardment mechanic and customization. Upon release, the game received mixed reviews, with aggregate scores of 59.10% on GameRankings and 59/100 on Metacritic. Critics focused on bugs and poor gameplay execution. IGN's Vince Ingenito noted that depth and customization were overshadowed by poor graphics and mechanics, criticizing the free-to-play model for taking too long to access desired equipment, giving a 5.8/10. Destructoid's Chris Carter rated it 6/10, calling it ambitious but needing work, citing underwhelming graphics, unoriginal modes, and tedious grind. Eurogamer's Paul Dean said it had potential but a dull debut, with many bugs. However, PlayStation Universe's Alex Locher praised its unique nature, technological accomplishments, and meaningful player interaction, calling it a pioneering endeavor. Despite mixed reception, CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson stated in March 2015 that Dust 514 was a profitable business.