During this weekend’s keynote EVE Fanfest Convention in Reykjavik, Iceland, EVE Online Creative director Bergur Finnbogason previewed an upcoming collaboration between the space MMO and Microsoft’s Excel spreadsheet program in front of a crowd of adoring fans. You ate it.
EVE Online inveterate often jokes that the complicated game is essentially “spreadsheets in space” due to the massive amounts of data you have to grapple with to play it seriously. So when Finnbogason entered the stage EVE
But that laugh soon turned to applause as he showed exactly what they have in store.
Mirroring the goals outlined in other parts of the keynote, Finnbogason explained that his team is interested in bridging the knowledge and budget gaps between new players and those who have already played EVE Online long enough to establish itself company and alliances within his huge universe.
“Data is hugely important to many advanced playstyles in EVE, and by making data accessible to everyone, we’re leveling the playing field when it comes to sandbox tools,” said Finnbogason. “With Microsoft, we’re building an extension that will allow players to plug and pull data directly into Excel.”
“This isn’t an April Fool’s joke,” Finnbogason added as a prototype demo played behind him just to make sure the crowd understood this wasn’t some elaborate prank. “That is real.”
The impact of this Excel collaboration is enormous. While the built-in tool doesn’t suddenly turn the day old EVE Online Players as skilled or knowledgeable as the most dedicated spacefarers should be on par when collecting, managing, and comparing data to ensure newcomers don’t burn out as the game’s economic realities pile up.
EVE OnlineThe Excel extension is still in early development, but CCP Games plans to release more later this year.