The multiplayer game company CCP is hosting its eighth annual EVE-Fanfest. The festival started yesterday, March 22^nd and will go on until tomorrow, March 24^th. The festival is held at Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre for the first time. Over one thousand foreign visitors from all over the world are expected to attend the festival, including EVE-Online players, reporters and members of the gaming- and entertainment industry.

One of the highlights of the festival will be the premier of CCP’s new game, DUST 514, which the company has been developing for the last four years. Members of the press, as well as the public, will be given a chance to play the game for the first time, and later this year it will be made available for PlayStation. The unique qualities of DUST 514, and the manner of its publication, have already raised attention in foreign media, according to a press release from CCP, mbl.is reports.

Last June, CCP announced that they were started a co-operation with SONY for the publication of DUST 514. Early this March, CPP announced that DUST 514 would be available free of charge to all PlayStation 3 owners through SONY’s PlayStation Network – thereby becoming the first game of its kind to be issued through a so-called “Free to play” version. The game itself will be available free of charge but players will be able to purchase several types of merchandise and add-ons to increase their possibilities in the game. EVE-Online occurs in space but DUST 514 occurs on the surface of planets. Players of both games will be able to affect the progress of the game in both worlds.

CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson is excited about the new game. “By the end of the year, if all works out, millions of people will be playing this game,” he said, visir.is reports.

Another highlight of the festival will be the display of a Lego-version of a spaceship from EVE-Online. According to Eldar Ástþórsson, project manager at CCP, there are currently 360.000 subscribers to EVE-Online and the company has become aware of an interest for this sort of product. “It is fun to do this in co-operation with a powerful party like Lego. Who knows, this might become the first step towards further co-operation with them. But currently, this is the only model we intend to put on the market,” Eldar said.

The festival will end with a “Party at the Top of the World” show on Saturday night. The Icelandic bands GusGus and Ham will perform, along with several others.

Click here to read more about EVE-Online Fanfest.

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