Fourth 'EVE: Valkyrie' Update Brings Wormholes To The Battlegrounds
EVE: Valkyrie is approaching the anniversary of its official launch, and if you count the closed alpha test, the game's already more than a year old. In the virtual reality market, one year old is ancient. But CCP Games isn’t showing any signs of slowing development on EVE: Valkyrie--the developer announced that Wormholes, the game's fourth free update, will bring new game modes and challenges to the fight.
EVE: Valkyrie launched alongside the Oculus Rift HMD, and everyone who pre-ordered the unit received a free copy of the game, which ensured a large install base off the hop. But the developer didn’t stop with the launch of the game. In the 10 months since Valkyrie’s launch, CCP released three major updates that changed the game in significant ways, and next week it’s going to happen again. Wormholes will be released just after Valentine's Day.
As we're sure you can guess, the Wormholes update adds wormholes to Eve: Valkyrie. CCP said a new wormhole will open for players to enter each weekend. The developer said each wormhole presents new and unique challenges meant to put Valkyrie pilots to the test. We don’t know much about what you’ll encounter inside the wormholes; CCP said there are things like “mined control points” and “Supermissiles,” but the rest remains a mystery.
Competition Gets Deeper
CCP always intended for EVE: Valkyrie to be a competitive game, and that competition is about to get even more serious. The Wormholes update includes an early version of a new Leagues feature, which is still in the alpha state, but will be available to everyone who downloads this update. Each player starts off in the Emerald league and, as they prove their ability, they move up through the ranks into Sapphire, Ruby, and Diamond classes.
Balanced Cross-Play
EVE: Valkyrie started off as an Oculus Rift exclusive, but before the end of 2016, the game hopped over to the PSVR and Vive platforms. All three versions of the game are cross-compatible--the entire pool of Valkyrie players, regardless of platform, play in the same pool of servers.
Most players are likely use a gamepad to control their ships, but the most competitive players are probably using dedicated H.O.T.A.S. (hands-on-throttle-and-stick) peripherals, which left PSVR players with a disadvantage. But not anymore. CCP said the Wormholes update adds support for PlayStation 4 H.O.T.A.S. controllers.
The Wormholes update will debut February 15.
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Kevin Carbotte is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware who primarily covers VR and AR hardware. He has been writing for us for more than four years.