EVE Online, the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) set in an intergalactic future, has become so popular that someone wants to use it as a basis for a TV series. The developer of the game, CCP Games, has announced a partnership with a filmmaker called Baltasar Kormákur and his production company to create the series, which will be available to watch worldwide.
The partners will create an original plot taking place in the EVE universe, i.e. a future in which the descendants of the New Eden colonists – who ended up cut off from the rest of humanity when the natural wormhole through which they first travelled to reach their new homes collapsed – try to survive amidst heavy conflict. Kormákur has plenty of awards under his belt, so it's a safe bet that he'll come up with something good.
But even more interesting than the idea of an entirely new concept is the fact that CCP Games reports that the TV series will take inspiration from true stories from the game that players have submitted via the EVE Online True Stories website. It's not certain which stories the team will take an interest in, but the True Stories website is running a competition for other prizes. Voting begins in eight days, and those five stories that receive the most votes will win their submitters a prize. For the most highly voted story, the submitter will win a round trip for two to Reykjavik (in Iceland) with a visit to the CCP headquarters to meet the developers, and a ten-year subscription to EVE Online, though he/she can opt to receive a Pilot License Extension (PLEX) – exchangeable for in-game currency – instead. The second-most highly voted story nets its submitter just that ten-year subscription (or PLEX), and the third, fourth, and fifth prizes are each one year subscription.
Would you watch a TV series set in the world of EVE Online?