EVE Online has two expansions coming in 2023 following a 2022 boom

EVE Online Uprising 2023
(Image credit: CCP Games)

CCP Games, the developers of EVE Online, have released a new years' message with some details about their plans for 2023. The recent Uprising expansion beefed up warfare between EVE's factions by blowing up a whole star, kicking off a big set of changes to warfare between the factions in notoriously-dangerous low security space.

That war change seems to have worked: "Particularly notable has been the sharp 75% increase in PvP kills in lowsec as well as the 11% PvP kill increase in highsec despite the additional restrictions on ganking," said CCP. "This has pushed industry and mining significantly, with navy ship production rising 14,709% and capital manufacturing seeing a 34% bump!"

2023 will be the 20th anniversary of EVE Online, and it's not slowing down. CCP says an EVE expansion is coming in both Q2, that is April to June, and Q4, that is October to December, of 2023. Additionally, this year's big Fanfest event will be a celebration of 20 years of EVE, taking place in Reykjavik from 21 to 23rd September.

EVE Online is a wildly successful space MMO, running since 2003, and pioneered a (still) nearly-unique game model based on a player-powered economy. The past few years have seen big changes to the game, most notably a huge overhaul of UI and graphics elements alongside a new player experience much more suited to gaming in the 2020s.

That player focus means that EVE's one of the more famous MMOs around just because every story is one of tragedy and betrayal between people, not between players and a game. Whether that's a year-long plan to destroy a deadly fortress, an elaborate assassination plot, or the incredible story of a 16-month plan to steal a famous pirate ship.

This year will also see the release of a closed beta of the vaunted, almost-a-joke-but-not-a-joke, Microsoft Excel plugin for EVE.

You can read the full Producers' Letter on the EVE Online website.

Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.