CCP Games are updating the sci-fi dogfighting EVE: Valkyrie today with a brand new game mode, a league system, and a number of fixes and improvements. The ‘Wormhole’ mode creates new combat scenarios, as travelling into an anomaly changes the rules, visuals and other gameplay modifiers.
EVE: Valkyrie was a key feature of the Oculus Rift launch bundle in March last year, followed by hitting the launch of PlayStation VR in October, and finally coming to the HTC Vive in November. Along the way, CCP Newcastle has supported the title with several patches, and three major updates: Carrier Assault, where you can breach and attack a carrier, one of the larger ship types in EVE; Joint Strike, adding cross-platform multiplayer and a new co-op mode; and Gatecrash, adding a new map, pilot customisation and PS4 Pro optimisations.
Today, EVE: Valkyrie receives its fourth major update, Wormholes. This introduces a brand new ‘Wormhole’ game mode, a league system, HOTAS support for the PS4, and several feature improvements and balance adjustments. The video above highlights the most prominent changes, and a more detailed breakdown can be found in CCP’s detailed blog post. The update is due today, but precisely what time it will launch on each platform is not yet known, though we’ve reached out to CCP to confirm.
The Wormhole game mode allows the player to fly into the anomaly, resulting in significant distortions of both visuals and game rules. This is designed to generate new combat scenarios, with ‘unusual environments’ and ‘special upgrades’. Each Wormhole also comes with preselected ship loadouts, meaning that players might be trying hardware they don’t normally have access to. Each Wormhole anomaly will last a few days, and the Valkyrie dev team plans to launch a new Wormhole event every weekend. Further information can be found here, but it seems CCP doesn’t want to reveal all the secrets just yet.
This intriguing update should tempt lapsed pilots back to the game, and attract some new players too. For the Valkyrie enthusiasts, perhaps the most significant part of the fourth update is the new leagues, designed to encourage competitive multiplayer, giving Valkyrie a more obvious ‘esports’ angle. The full details on the Valkyrie League are found here.
