EVE Online hits China, breaks record

MMORPG grabs 30,000 concurrent users in same gameworld, 200,000 registrants in first day of beta.

If there were any remaining doubts that China has the potential to be the king of massively multiplayer online role-playing games, the numbers from EVE Online's open beta should put them to rest.

CCP Games, the game's Icelandic developer, today announced that more than 30,000 users were concurrently playing in a single gameworld, which it claims is a new world record. In the first day, more than 200,000 people registered for the game. The Chinese version of the game is run by Optic Communications and runs independently of the Western edition of EVE Online.

"It was quite amazing to see the population of EVE China exceed the population of Iceland in the second day of open beta testing." said Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, CEO of CCP, referring to the first day's more than 200,000 registered users. "EVE China has been an exciting collaboration project and continues to be so, as we continue to refine the experience to accommodate for the steep growth rate of both our English and Chinese worlds."

EVE Online launched in 2003 and has since seen several expansions, with the next, EVE Online: The Path to Kali, due sometime this year. For more information on the game, check out GameSpot's full review.

35 Comments

  • Mkherkzen

    Posted Jun 16, 2006 4:27 am PT

    You know what? I'm dreaming that one day such games like EVE (or Guild Wars or, even better, Lineage 2) will become multi-platform just as Final Fantasy XI is. Can you imagine? Playing any of those games mentioned on Wii or XBOX 360. Ahhh...

  • Dissident

    Posted Jun 15, 2006 6:23 pm PT

    Hm. Talk about escapism.
    If I lived in China, I'd be desperate for a new MMO to bury myself in too.

    I just hope this doesn't mean they'll gear the western version of Eve towards the Korean-MMO gameplay style (which has, in the past, meant more grinding, if you compare games like Lineage 2 to DAOC or WOW). I doubt they will if they have separate dev teams, but still.

    Not that this'll eliminate any of the macro miners, either. Sigh.

  • Electrofreak

    Posted Jun 14, 2006 10:45 pm PT

    EVE is an entirely different game than it was when it was released in 2003. Virtually no aspect of the game is the same. It has a whole new GUI, many times more ships and items, etc. I personally love the game to death, been playing it 2.5 years and plan to play it as long as I can.

    Best thing about EVE, bar none: FREE EXPANSIONS. And I'm talking real, content-filled, gameplay and graphics expansions. At least 2 a year (with smaller patches every month or so).

    This game is the online, space-faring, chess game of MMOs. You won't find a lot of pubescent teens running arould spamming "LOLZ". It's a game community that consists mostly of older teens and adults who like to play a game that is free-form, non-limiting, and actually requires thought. The fact that training skills is time-based depending in how you set up your character means that those of us with a full-time job can keep pace with the ones who play all day. The game requires patience to play and become good at, but it's full of risk and reward that other games cannot offer.

    While you can claim that you're level 60 in WoW, who really cares? Wouldn't you rather be leading an alliance of 4,000 players in a vast space empire that stretches across hundreds of star systems in a single-shard galaxy with over 7000 systems that over 120,000 people call home? EVE is the kind of game where you can achieve just about anything. Whether you decide to pirate the space lanes, haul valuable cargo through hostile space, defend your corporation or alliance, or explore the vast and complex environment and social community that exists in EVE, there isn't much limit to what you can do.

  • TheBladestorm

    Posted Jun 14, 2006 1:32 pm PT

    Eve's devs genuinely care about and heavily invest in the game, as a result it has probably the most impressive pace of change and improvement in the industry (Which gets better all the time as they are constantly hiring and training more staff)

    This has two major relevant effects :

    The game as gamespot reviewed it 3 years ago is in effect unrecognizable with eve of today, the same could very likely be said about eve of 2 years ago, maybe 1 year ago.

    The devs tend to improve the game in ways that players want them to, rather than whatever the marketing guys tell them will be "hot" - which to my mind goes a long way in garnering an incredibly loyal and content playerbase.

    It isn't a game for everybody, most notably a certain level of patience is required, although probably in reverse of most games, the level of patience needed actually drops as you get further into the game (better skills, better speed modules, insta-jump bookmarks and other such techniques) I think that puts quite a few people off when they try it out, which is a shame.

    Its also of course more of a strategy/RPG/capital ship sim, Not a "space sim" as most think it will be looking at the pictures, which is another thing that tends to put people off.

    I wish them luck with china, particularly since they've made noises towards the idea of hiring basically several new dev teams, in order to add all those things they've wanted to do but not had the manpower for all these years (RTS on planets, FPS in stations etc near the top of the list by the sounds of it )

    Last point, I promise (rambler that I am) China had to have its own server because China has several laws as apply to MMORPG's that would make it both difficult and unpopular in the west, had they tried to just merge them and because the chinese market prefer there games entirely in chinese, I'm told.

  • BadAshJL

    Posted Jun 14, 2006 8:59 am PT

    That gamespot review is from when the game first launched and it's clear the reviewer didn't spend more than a few hours in the game. It is NOT a good indication of the current state of the game.

    Also there has been 1 expansion and 5 content patches since the game was released. That's the main reason why I've tried to argue with one of the GS editors that it either needs a re-review or the current expansion (Exodus) needs it's own separate review to include the new features.

    There is nothing predictable about the fights in EVE, there are millions of possible ship and module combinations so you really never know what the other person has outfitted. There is tons of skill involved in EVE combat, far more than is required for WoW, possibly even GW.

  • MxO

    Posted Jun 14, 2006 8:56 am PT

    "Also, I thought Eve devolved into predictable fights where the stronger ship always wins with no real skill factor. That's what I thought I remember the Gamespot review saying."

    Not really. For one thing, the Gamespot review available is from EVE's release three years ago; the game has changed *a lot* since then. For another, "stronger ship" is entirely relative - the difference between a good module fitting and a poor one makes all the difference in the world.

    "At least in WoW PvP, there's a good deal of skill involved, although I'd say that Guild Wars probably trumps them both (for PvP mechanics)"

    Just speaking from personal experience here, but when I did the PVP thing in World of Warcraft it was pretty darn boring.

  • sigma8

    Posted Jun 14, 2006 8:42 am PT

    "It was quite amazing to see the population of EVE China exceed the population of Iceland in the second day of open beta testing."

    Um. No it isn't.. Also, he's incorrect. According to the CIA, there are about 300,000 people in iceland. The Circus Maximus (in Rome) could seat about 250,000, back in the day. Iceland = not many people.

    Also, I thought Eve devolved into predictable fights where the stronger ship always wins with no real skill factor. That's what I thought I remember the Gamespot review saying. At least in WoW PvP, there's a good deal of skill involved, although I'd say that Guild Wars probably trumps them both (for PvP mechanics)

  • NagaSadow

    Posted Jun 14, 2006 7:09 am PT

    Yes, it seems some tards still think China is a 3rd world country

    And to the tard who dares compare WOW with Eve, grow up! WOW may be better in a lot of ways, but for ppl whom are more into sci-fi than fantasy settings, there are no substitute. And believe me, NO OTHER GAME can give you the adrenalinrush Eve can, unless ure playing Tekken on an elite level.

    And how dare the idiots in Gamespot (I mean, I just lost total respect for u) refer to a 3 year old review???!??! It's not representative of the game as it is now in a VERY long shot!

  • ragingoptimistu

    Posted Jun 14, 2006 6:29 am PT

    I am surprised that that many people in China both have internet access AND are interested in this MMO. There must be a huge market there.

  • ymcop

    Posted Jun 14, 2006 2:40 am PT

    Nice, but I don't like China, dunno why, but I hate them ! So much people, fake goods, omg.

  • ShockerX01

    Posted Jun 14, 2006 12:57 am PT

    Guys, Eve was made 3 years ago. Its Beta for a reason, it was adjusted so it'll meet the requirements for China's censorship for the internet. I'm sure its hard to adjust the game with censorship. And Eve is a good game, in my opinion, its better than WoW. PvP, espionage, scam, its all part of the game, and you'll never see them in WoW or any other MMOs, plus alot of risk involve (barely none in WoW) Where's the fun in a game that has no risk like WoW? I get alot of adrenaline rush when you can easily lost ships/equipment in minutes after working to get them after few months.

  • ROTO_DQ

    Posted Jun 13, 2006 10:26 pm PT

    The hottest mmorpg xiyou which released by a chinese company named netease have more than one million concurrent users, twice of wow.

  • LordGamer0001

    Posted Jun 13, 2006 9:49 pm PT

    that is alot of registered people.

  • iamleon

    Posted Jun 13, 2006 9:11 pm PT

    Chinese already know wow well, the population is much higher than EVE.

  • nintendorocks

    Posted Jun 13, 2006 7:26 pm PT

    China is finally getting into the gaming industry. Although, I think EVE Online is a real lackluster MMORPG, China really seems to like it. But someone needs to show these guys World of Warcraft.

  • DiscGuru101

    Posted Jun 13, 2006 4:27 pm PT

    Eve is a great game. It needs to include planet surfaces and it would be the ultimate outer space game.

  • DiscGuru101

    Posted Jun 13, 2006 4:22 pm PT

    [This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

  • comthitnuong

    Posted Jun 13, 2006 1:57 pm PT

    good for china

  • BadAshJL

    Posted Jun 13, 2006 1:41 pm PT

    Maybe, but I'd say that an independently developed and supported MMO with little to no formal advertising that doubles its population in less than 1 year on word of mouth alone, has an average subsciber retention length of 12 months (compared to 2 months on average for other MMO's), puts all players on a single shard, has a very detailed self-regulating economy, etc.... certainly fits the bill

  • runstalker

    Posted Jun 13, 2006 1:23 pm PT

    #3 is a bold statement.

  • BadAshJL

    Posted Jun 13, 2006 1:18 pm PT

    There are a few reasons why the interest is so great.

    1. It's one of only a few Sci-Fi MMO's on the market.
    2. Everyone is on the same shard, so there's one big community, games like that are popular in Asia.
    3. It's the best, most intricate, most innovative MMO on the market.

  • NeoJedi

    Posted Jun 13, 2006 11:45 am PT

    China is completely nuts over MMORPG's... wow.

  • Redhunt_86

    Posted Jun 13, 2006 11:41 am PT

    when they start charging us$19.95 per month.the numbers would plummet. IF they charge it cheap,,,then its bloody unfair.

  • Reetesh

    Posted Jun 13, 2006 11:34 am PT

    Amazing! Chinese and koreans are already odsesed with having online game characters life Such new MMOGs are Bound to have a HUGE impact.

  • esmarsu

    Posted Jun 13, 2006 11:25 am PT

    I was expecting this, ´cause the future of the gaming it´s clearly drawn, Onl-ine Playing (A lot of people playing together) will replace slowly but firmly the traditional way of playing (TV - you)

  • DeathStar17

    Posted Jun 13, 2006 11:22 am PT

    Wow...what made it so appealing?

  • timts

    Posted Jun 13, 2006 11:17 am PT

    kids during summer vacation just play some free beta, the number will drop to a really small one when it starts to charge people

  • Yuck_Too

    Posted Jun 13, 2006 11:10 am PT

    What is the monthly fee for this one?

  • AlexJ-

    Posted Jun 13, 2006 11:09 am PT

    Well, I have heard a lot of people live in China, these days.

  • bpislife

    Posted Jun 13, 2006 11:09 am PT

    The game has been out in the "western Countries" since 2003, but the Chinese version of the game just entered BETA

  • gameloverx

    Posted Jun 13, 2006 11:08 am PT

    wow holly freakin wow

  • Scaper-X

    Posted Jun 13, 2006 11:08 am PT

    As if the game doesn't have enough macro miners already...

  • squarephreak

    Posted Jun 13, 2006 11:06 am PT

    So, why can't both continents play in the same world? Too much work for the programmers to handle? Go FFXI!!

  • axillia

    Posted Jun 13, 2006 11:06 am PT

    Well what do you expect with over one billion people?

  • Black_Sage89

    Posted Jun 13, 2006 11:03 am PT

    That is pretty interesting, but I don't understand, it says it is a BETA but has it been out since 2003? Explanation.

Hot Stories

Newsmakers

Featured Stories

Submit News

Got tips? Send them in!

Related Game

EVE Online Boxshot
EVE Online

Game Stats

  • Rank:
    302 of 59,060
    (up by 268)
    PC Rank:
    74 of 11,095
    Tracking:
    1,241 Track It»
    Wishlists:
    155 Wish It»
  • Users Now Playing:
    597
  • Number of Players:

    Massively Multiplayer

  • Top 5 User Tags:
    1. eve
    2. eve online
    3. mmorpg
    4. online
    5. ccp
  • Teen Rating Description

    Titles rated T (Teen) have content that may be suitable for ages 13 and older. Titles in this category may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language. Learn more

Full Game Details »Close
Also on

Site Blogs