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Dust 514 for PS3 aims to revolutionise the console landscape by further opening up the closed platform to the internet, CCP’s VP of business developer Thor Gunnarsson has claimed.
“The console space right now is where the PC was before the internet really kicked off,” said Gunnarsson in the latest issue of Develop.
“Console is about to leap forward and it won’t look back.”
But he claimed developer CCP isn’t worried about breaking new ground and the potential consequences it could bring.
“It would be a risk not to make Dust. It would be a risk to think that everything will work if we sit still,” he said.
Sony has recently made inroads on opening up its console to external internet services, launching the Steam service on its platform allowing a new outlet for digital distribution, game updates and DLC.
But Dust 514 looks to take this openness to the next stage and take away another layer of isolation some developers believe consoles suffer from.
The PS3 FPS will live in the same game world as Eve Online – the popular PC MMO also built by CCP – in real-time.
Actions made in one game will affect the other, CCP said. If achieved, it will be a feat that has yet to be accomplished in the games industry, with console manufacturers traditionally reticent to open up their systems.
“Our goal is simple; the actions of a PS3 player can have huge ramifications for large corporations within the world of Eve,” Gunnarsson said.
“At CCP we’ve always believed that what happened in the PC space, when it was reborn around online gaming, would eventually happen with consoles. It is at that very point that we wanted to come in and lead the way.”
Gunnarsson said that when a player is fighting in Dust, it’s a real planet in the Eve universe that people on PC are trying to fight for control of. These players can support PS3 users on the ground or thwart them, he added.
He claimed the level of connection between both games will be dynamic, but said the studio is uncertain what will happen as it begins connecting the two games and allows information to flow between both.
“That will iterate over time,” he said. “But the objective is to make Dust 514 be significant to the world of Eve and vice-versa. So Dust players can call in air support or munitions from Eve players.”
The full Dust 514 feature is out now and can be found online, or in the digital magazine here.
