The longstanding FPS for the PS3, DUST 514 is ending it’s run. Published by CCP and initially released in 2013, the Free-to-Play FPS enjoyed a small but loyal community of console players throughout it’s time. Despite this, DUST failed to find the large playerbase it needed to remain profitable, matters weren’t helped by the weak links between DUST 514 and EVE Online leaving a bad taste in many mouths.
There is still some hope for the future of EVE and FPS’. CCP hints at a new project that uses the lessons learned from DUST to create a new game in the genre. Lets hope this new project will succeed where DUST failed.
[Original Announcement Thread]
Dear DUST 514 Community,
CCP’s development team in Shanghai has been working on a prototype for a first-person shooter for PC with the goal of building a great FPS set in our sci-fi universe of New Eden (the universe in which EVE Online, DUST 514, EVE: Valkyrie, and Gunjack are set). Their experience is being utilized to build a new game from scratch using Unreal Engine 4 while harnessing all our learnings from DUST 514. This is in many ways an evolution of Project Legion, the concept we announced at EVE Fanfest 2014, but without the limitations of technical debt and development paths we quickly discovered in that effort that could never serve as a future-proof technology base for a full production game. This new project is still in an early phase of production, and we feel like we’re on the right track and plan to give an update at EVE Fanfest on April 21st as a part of the free livestream of the event. Since this new game will be different from DUST 514 (although keeping many of its great parts), we will provide tiered recognition rewards to our loyal DUST customers, details to be announced.
We are very proud of what we’ve learned and accomplished with DUST 514 on PlayStation 3 over the past three years and it is an honor to be a part of such a dedicated community. We consider DUST 514 one of the best free-to-play offerings on the platform, but the years have caught up with us. It is with a heavy heart that we inform you that DUST 514 will be shutting down on May 30th, 2016. We therefore will not be releasing the 1.3 update as we had planned. Players will continue to be able to play for free on our servers until then, but all further PSN packs and purchases have been removed and disabled from the in-game marketplace and the PlayStation Store. Players with existing Aurum will be able to continue to purchase items from the in-game marketplace.
Thank you for being a part of DUST 514 on the PlayStation 3. We look forward to the next chapter, and hope you’ll be a part of it and continue the journey with us.
On the project announcement:
CCP allowed us access to the announcement plans early on. What the CPM saw in that first draft did not fill us with confidence, and we felt it would not be received positively.
But that was only the first draft. We argued with CCP, in face to face meetings as well as text, to rework and reword the blog post that would forever change Dust as we knew it.
What you just finished reading is not perfect, and there are so many more things left to be addressed that the CPM feels should be shared. But despite all that, CCP (a group of actual real live people) deserve credit for listening to the constant criticism and doing what they felt is best.
I feel that I can safely speak for the rest of CPM2 when I say that we haven’t given up, and will continue to champion what is best for this community and its future, no matter the challenges.
Thank you, Dust community. We are in this together.
On Patch 1.3:
We learned that there would be no 1.3 on January 11th. I think you will find that after this date, the CPM did its best to not promise anything concerning the patch, and we hope that no one felt mislead.
We all thought it was coming “Soon,” CCP included, but things changed. We can only hope that some of the better features of 1.3 receive the polish they deserve and become part of this new project.
Now we are on the same page:
Now you know why we couldn’t say anything. Why you didn’t see feedback threads, Dust 514 wishlists, or peaks behind the curtain.
We are sorry we couldn’t do more, but it was simply the situation we inherited. Going forward however, the shroud of complete secrecy will be lifted somewhat.
