This one will be my favorite post of the week because I already know EVE well and this story is exactly what I've been wanting to see. So let me tell you about EverScaper — it's a spin-off set in EVE space, but instead of the massive fleet battles we all love (I have 15 years under my belt), it's an extraction shooter built by Pebble Gaming, not CCP directly. And here's where this gets interesting: they originally had a collaboration with Star Wars Outfitters that would have featured actual Lucasfilm assets and content in-game. That deal fell through during development — which usually means disaster for any game — but the article frames it as a win because stripping away all that marketing bloat has made the core loop tighter than anything else in this genre right now, and you can't beat honest design like that.
EverScaper is built around an asteroid-mining extraction loop where you start with nothing on your ship and mine ore while dodging pirate patrols — I played it three times already to figure out what works. Each round you harvest minerals from asteroids in a zone, trying not to get boarded by pirates who are constantly patrolling the system. The loot isn't Star Wars gear; it's EVE-themed mining hardware that actually upgrades your ship and refinery over time, which is great because those permanent progression systems reward repeated play instead of just relying on new skins. You land at a space station between runs to refine your minerals, sell them for currency, and buy better laser modules or armor plating - the loop tightens as you get deeper into it rather than widening out with endless crossover content that was cut from the original build.
I'll be honest: I love this approach because games are bloated enough already. Instead of wrapping a mediocre title in another studio's IP, they kept what matters and discarded everything else, which is rare in today's market. The Star Wars partnership would have been flashy for one week but the game has to stand on its own forever; by removing it, they built something that works even without any marketing coat of paint. I'm already predicting this will be a sleeper hit — not because of any tie-in but because people are tired of games hiding behind big partnerships and EverScaper is one of the few recent releases that doesn't need one to feel complete. If you like extraction shooters or just want to play EVE in miniature form, go download it; it might be one of the most honest releases this year.
Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/this-is-my-3rd-time-playing-eve-onlines-upcoming-extraction-shooter-little-brother-and-it-finally-feels-like-its-coming-together-all-without-the-ambitious-crossover-features-it-was-made-for/
EverScaper is built around an asteroid-mining extraction loop where you start with nothing on your ship and mine ore while dodging pirate patrols — I played it three times already to figure out what works. Each round you harvest minerals from asteroids in a zone, trying not to get boarded by pirates who are constantly patrolling the system. The loot isn't Star Wars gear; it's EVE-themed mining hardware that actually upgrades your ship and refinery over time, which is great because those permanent progression systems reward repeated play instead of just relying on new skins. You land at a space station between runs to refine your minerals, sell them for currency, and buy better laser modules or armor plating - the loop tightens as you get deeper into it rather than widening out with endless crossover content that was cut from the original build.
I'll be honest: I love this approach because games are bloated enough already. Instead of wrapping a mediocre title in another studio's IP, they kept what matters and discarded everything else, which is rare in today's market. The Star Wars partnership would have been flashy for one week but the game has to stand on its own forever; by removing it, they built something that works even without any marketing coat of paint. I'm already predicting this will be a sleeper hit — not because of any tie-in but because people are tired of games hiding behind big partnerships and EverScaper is one of the few recent releases that doesn't need one to feel complete. If you like extraction shooters or just want to play EVE in miniature form, go download it; it might be one of the most honest releases this year.
Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/this-is-my-3rd-time-playing-eve-onlines-upcoming-extraction-shooter-little-brother-and-it-finally-feels-like-its-coming-together-all-without-the-ambitious-crossover-features-it-was-made-for/