Expansions of Eve Online

Eve Online
Developer(s)	CCP Games
Publisher(s)	CCP Games
Distributor(s)	Atari Valve Corporation Mobius Games
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows OS X (via Cider) Linux (via Wine)
Release date(s)	NA: May 6, 2003 UK: May 6, 2003 EU: May 23, 2003
Genre(s)	Space simulation Massively multiplayer online role-playing game
Mode(s)	Multiplayer

Eve Online is a player-driven persistent-world massively multiplayer online role-playing game set in a science fiction space setting. Since its release on May 6, 2003 the developer CCP Games has added a total of twenty-one expansions to the game. CCP provides expansions free of charge to its subscribers.^[1] This article highlights the expansions and changes introduced to the game.

Released expansions

Castor

Release date: December 18, 2003

Castor was the first major content addition. It focused on refining current functions along with adding "Tech 2" elite components and ships. With its release, Eve players saw conquerable stations in 0.0 security (deep space) systems, the introduction of the agent mission running system, the introduction of research agents, and many other features released between the launch of Castor and its follower, Exodus.^[2]

Exodus

Release date: November 17, 2004

Exodus is considered by the developers to be the first major game expansion. The expansion added multi-level "deadspace" scenarios, new environments and ships, better handling of conflicts, additional market functionality, user interface improvements, and an updated in-game web browser. A formalized method for alliances between corporations and the ability to claim sovereignty of a solar system via new "player owned starbases" was also added.^[3] Prior to its official release, this expansion was codenamed "Shiva."

Exodus: Cold War

Release date: June 29, 2005

Cold War Edition contained an extensive new tutorial sequence and a storyline background introduction. "Level 4" agent missions were added to create a way to grind for money, as well as "COSMOS" constellations where in-space agents began giving out story-driven missions and unique rewards. The freighter and dreadnought capital ships, full-fledged player-owned "outposts," and improved NPC pirate factions brought deep space play to a new level.^[4] This expansion also added Unicode chat support, allowing communication in Asian, Cyrillic, and Greek languages.

Exodus: Red Moon Rising

Release date: December 16, 2005

Red Moon Rising was split off from the "Kali" expansion in order to maintain a more regular patch schedule. It included many performance optimizations and updates to combat, research, and manufacturing gameplay.^[5] The expansion continued the focus on attracting new international players as four new "bloodlines" were introduced with Asian features and a boost in starting skills. Unicode support was also expanded from the chat system to game-wide. A major focus of the expansion was revamping existing ships and adding many additional ship classes. Twenty-three new Tech 2 ships were added including Exhumers, Force Recon cruisers, Command ships, Interdictors, and most notably the capital ships Carrier, Mothership, and Titan.

Bloodlines

Release date: March 2, 2006

Bloodlines is the codename for the content patch that enabled players to create the new character "bloodline" with an Asian appearance.^[6]

• Achura, citizens of the Caldari State and expert scientists
• Jin-Mei, members of the Gallente Federation renowned for their legendary leadership traits
• Khanid of the Amarr Empire, the primary fighter-warriors of their culture
• Vherokior of the Minmatar Republic, the established manufacturers and engineers of the tribes.

Revelations I

Release date: November 29, 2006

Revelations is the second major game expansion of Eve Online. Previously known by the codename "Kali," Revelations was scheduled to be released in three parts. Major features of this expansion include an exploration / scan probe system, a formalized contract system, the invention replacement for the Tech 2 research lottery, ship customization with "rigs," and temporary "combat boosters." Existing features expanded include a "new player experience" that grants new players a large head start in capabilities, an upgraded fleet system, eight new deepspace regions, a new map that zooms from ship to galaxy seamlessly, popular new battlecruisers and battleships, and many more.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Eve Voice was integrated as part of Revelations content patch 1.4, initially planned for release with Revelations II. Eve Voice is a Voice over IP tool integrated into the Eve Online client, with software licensed by CCP from Vivox.^[11]

Revelations II

Release date: June 19, 2007

Revelations II is the second of three expansions, designed to show the increased tensions between the empires within the game universe.^[12] Several new features were introduced; including a mechanism for overloading modules^[13] and area of effect bombs.^[14] A number of existing features have been extended including Level 5 agents,^[15] changes to sovereignty,^[16] starbases^[17] outposts,^[18] and balancing changes to the Amarr race.^[19] Revelations II also changed the way new players start the game, in addition to new optional tutorials the existing tutorial has been shortened and refined, and players now start in a private dungeon to allow new players to get used to the controls in a protective environment.^[20]

Trinity

Release date: December 5, 2007^[21]

Features include an updated graphics engine and 5 new ship classes totalling 20 new ships. The 5 classes are interdictor cruisers (Heavy Interdictors) and electronic warfare frigates (Electronic Attack Ships) as well as battleships (Black Ops, designed for covert operations and Marauders, designed for long-range deployment) and freighters (Jump Freighters).^[22] Although "Factional Warfare," a major addition to game mechanics, had been planned for this patch it was later announced that it would be included in a future patch,^[23] along with Ambulation (walking in stations and Full Human Representation, announced on the Eve Online Fanfest 2007). Starting with the release of Trinity CCP offers two editions of the Eve Online client. One with regular graphics content, called Trinity 1.0 Classic, and one with updated graphics, called Trinity 1.0, also referred to as Premium.^[24] Players who run a Shader Model 3-capable graphics card can choose whether they want the Classic or Premium content. Without such a graphics card the client uses the Classic content.

The initial version of the Trinity patch could under certain circumstances delete the player's operating system's boot.ini file, thus rendering the operating system unbootable.^[25] Six hours after the release of this faulty patch CCP fixed the issue. While the number of affected players is unknown, 215 had specifically asked CCP for assistance.^[26]

Empyrean Age

Release date: June 10, 2008

Empyrean Age, previously named Kali 4, is the name of the ninth expansion of Eve Online and the last one in the Kali tetralogy.^[27][28][29] CCP has included Factional Warfare in this release.^[27][29] In this expansion the in-game story plays a key role and the situation in the game reflects events depicted in the novel of the same title by Tony Gonzales.^[27] The expansion allows both individual players and whole corporations to fight for certain NPC factions and battle for control of certain regions of space.^[27][30] Agents provide missions and objectives which alter player and corporation standings with the factions accordingly.^[30] This expansion was against the wishes of CCP Lead Game Designer Noah Ward and as such the Factional Warfare system saw no bug fixes, patches or further development until the release of Inferno in April, 2012.

Quantum Rise

Release date: November 11, 2008

The Quantum Rise expansion includes features such as a new certificate system that allows verification of a player's proficiency in certain defined groups of skills by other players^[31] and a medal system for awards by corporations. Industrial ships were rebalanced and optimized, with addition of the Orca-class ship, "a sub-capital logistical ship with a mining command focus."^[32] The staged delivery of the expansion began with the recent implementation of new technology such as StacklessIO^[33] and EVE64^[34] which upgraded the server hardware and streamlined communication between server and client to reduce lag. These improvements provide performance allowing for player vs. player battles with thousands of participants. Further hardware and software improvements are planned.^[35] Other features of the expansion include further graphics updates as started in the Trinity expansion; the ability for players to group their vessels' weapons for easier interaction;^[36] changes to autopilot routes and avoidance of player-defined solar systems. This patch also brought a controversial overhaul of the speed system.^[37]

Apocrypha

Release date: March 10, 2009

At Fanfest 2008 it was announced that instead of a six-month gap between expansions the subsequent expansion to Quantum Rise, Apocrypha, would be released on March 10, 2009. This expansion included a training queue, Tech 3 vessels, and exploration of uncharted space through unstable wormholes.^[38][39] Apocrypha has improved NPCs' artificial intelligence and has added a new NPC faction to the game, the Sleepers.^[40]

Apocrypha 1.5 was released on August 20, 2009 and considered by CCP to be a mini-expansion. CCP felt that Apocrypha was released very early for a Summer expansion, and that they had enough content ready to go for it to be classified as more than a patch.^[41] The new mini-expansion brought to EVE four more epic mission arcs, new rig sizes, specialized cargo bays for specific ships, and performance enhancements for their Factional Warfare.

Apocrypha ended official support for Linux operating systems.

Dominion

Release date: December 1, 2009^[42]

The focus of Dominion, the 12th expansion, is an overhaul in the alliance warfare sovereignty mechanics. It also includes the introduction of pirate epic arcs, an artistic redesign of planets and a social networking platform called COSMOS^[42] (previously called New Eden). Dominion updates the In Game Browser (IGB) with Awesomium (a browser toolkit based on Chromium), allowing the IGB to behave more like a true browser and properly render HTML, javascript and stylesheets.^[43]

Tyrannis

Release date: May 26, 2010

Tyrannis is the 13th expansion to EVE Online, and focuses heavily on planetary interaction. Players are able to take advantage of deposits of minerals and other raw materials found on the planets of EVE. To that end they are given the ability to build infrastructure for harvesting, storage and processing of these materials.

The previously revealed out of game community site allowing players to interact, organize and communicate with each other through a regular web browser has been renamed EVE Gate. EVE Gate features EVE Mail, in and out of game calendars and contacts and updates for players, corporations and alliances.^[44]

CCP added hundreds of new landmarks throughout New Eden. These are points in space connected to past storyline or player events. The landmarks show up in the overview, making them more apparent and accessible than before.

The Scorpion-class battleships received a graphical overhaul featuring improved quality textures, unique detailing for each model setting them apart from the other variations. The expansion also focuses on other optimizations and improvements throughout the game, such as reducing fleet lag and load handling.

Incursion

Release Date: November 30, 2010

Incursion was announced on September 21, 2010.^[45] The expansion featured the "escalating attacks of the deadly Sansha's Nation". Players are able to join public fleets and co-operate to repel the Sansha incursions, receiving bounties and earning loyalty rewards. Incursion also includes many improvements as suggested by the CSM, as well as hardware upgrades, software improvements and new cluster components aimed at increasing game performance.

Additionally, the character creator was updated with CCP's Carbon character technology for new pilot portraits. Finally, CCP added a Sansha Mothership, the Revenant, Fighter-bombers, the Noctis salvaging vessel, improvements to NPCs and their AI, new loot and rewards, storyline events and a more dynamic and simplified system for Planetary Interaction. The web-based social networking platform, EVE Gate, and the official forums received updates in the Incursion expansion as well.

CCP released the Incursion expansion in three phases: a first-step patch with a collection of player-requested improvements on November 30, a second-step patch with hidden features before December 25, and a third-step patch that included key features of the expansion (Incarna Character Creator, Sansha Incursions) on January 18, 2011. CCP has stated that this method of implementation prevents numerous bugs from infiltrating the code, and the key features "will benefit greatly from an additional level of polish."^[46]

During the second-step patch the learning skills were removed. Players were reimbursed in two ways, they got their invested skill points back which they then could redistribute to their liking or, when they hadn't already inserted the skillbook, they got the NPC price back.

Incarna

Release Date: June 21, 2011

Previously known as 'Ambulation' and 'Walking In Stations', the overall Incarna feature revolves around allowing players to leave their pods and walk around in their station HQ. Currently 'face to face' interactions with other pilots is not possible. This feature has been in development for the majority of the life of Eve. The first phase of Incarna was released on June 21. 2011.^[47]

In the initial Incarna release all Captains Quarters were of Minmatar design. The captain's quarters are a private single player environment to introduce players to Incarna. As with the previous expansion (Incursion) this expansion will follow a segmented roll out. This allows for testing of each major feature under the stress of the live server separately.

Incarna also included a major visual revamp of all turrets, mining lasers, tractor beams and salvagers design and animation (including the firing animation).^[47]

One of Incarna's changes, the introduction of the "Noble Exchange" (NeX) as an in-game market allowing players to buy vanity items, received negative reaction from players and prompted in-game riots.^[48][49]

Other changes include:

• new design for the Maller hull, an Amarr cruiser size ship.
• change of jumpbridge mechanics to a limit of one jumpbridge per system but in return a fuel bay increase to 30,000m³ from the original 10,000m³.^[47]

Crucible

Release date: November 29, 2011

The Crucible expansion was introduced to refine the existing game aspects. New nebulae graphics, an improved UI, time dilation and gameplay balancing were included in the expansion. CCP also added a line of third tier battlecruisers, which can fit battleship weapons, and the remaining Captain's Quarters for the Amarr, Gallente, and Caldari races. In addition to this, the engine trail effect was reintroduced.

A list of all changes, in order from most recently announced to least recent:

• Session-change timer lowered from 20 seconds to 10.^[50]
• Increase in the number of deadspace anomalies^[51]
• Increase in payout of deadspace anomalies^[51]
• Exploration dungeons will now automatically despawn within a few minutes of being completed^[51]
• Minimise function added to pop-up messages in dungeons^[51]
• Fitting screen now shows the damage output of the current ship including drones ^[52]
• CPU and Powergrid in the fitting window will now show the remaining value and not the total used^[52]
• Introduction of a brand new launcher that will include deals, news updates and dev blogs^[53]
• Introduction of an easier to read font that scales with the UI^[54]
• Jump bridges no longer require you to have to enter a password if the tower is not configured to shoot at you^[55]
• Setup and takedown times for POS structures has been lowered significantly^[55]
• Fuel is now injected into starbases using fuel blocks instead of several types of fuel^[55]
• Introduction of a third tier of battlecruisers: Caldari Naga,^[56] Amarr Oracle,^[57] Gallente Talos^[58] and Minmatar Tornado^[59]
• Introduction of new skins for all Caldari and Gallente sub-capital ships.
• Introduction of dynamic backgrounds that change size and move as you approach stellar objects^[60]
• Enhanced shadows that are more crisp and accurate^[61]
• Reblancing of hybrid weapons to make them more useful^[62]
• Automatic crash reporting^[63]
• More in-depth killmails which now list implants^[64]
• Player owned customs offices with modules^[65]
• More advanced patching and content release methods^[66]
• Capital ship balancing to make fleet battles fair^[67]
• New T2 modules^[68]
• New E-War Drones^[68]
• Manufacturing of T2 rigs^[68]
• Introduction of time dilation, which will scale relative in-game time to mitigate lag^[69]
• Captains quarters for all factions^[70]
• Ability to view the full-body character model^[71]
• Changes to the system and starmap to improve readability.^[71]
• When a weapon misses a target, it will now visually indicate a missed shot.^[71]

Inferno

Release date: April 24, 2012 (Pre-Release background enhancements), May 22, 2012 (Full release)

The 2012 summer expansion was announced with the name "Inferno" on February 22.^[72] Inferno brought a complete overhaul of the war declaration and factional warfare systems, addition of 17 new modules and 3D models for missile launchers and missiles along with a mercenary marketplace, unified inventory and graphical updates.

A list of the additions and modifications from the Inferno feature page:^[73]

• 3D models for missile launchers and missiles including animations, effects and sounds^[74]
• Graphics update including V3 textures for the majority of the Amarr fleet^[75]
• Overhaul of the war declaration system including the addition of war reports^[76]
• Update of kill mails to kill reports which add a graphical interface in addition to other features^[77]
• Mercenary marketplace for corporations and alliances to hire themselves out for mercenary jobs in a more official manner^[78]
• Factional warfare overhaul allowing players to spend LP points to upgrade empire systems along with a new UI interface^[79]
• Addition of 17 new modules in the categories of defense, offense and support which now make it possible for every fit to have a counter fit^[80]
• Additions to the character creator including new skin tones and a full resculpture for every character^[81]
• Unified inventory allowing players to see all the contents of containers they have access to at a station along with filtering and sorting^[82]
• Updated incursions which yield greater rewards for players than before^[83]
• Additions of an effects bar so players can easily tell what effects are being used on their ship^[84]
• More opportunities for players both rookie and veteran to earn income^[85]
• More UI enhancements to bring them into line with performance and aesthetic goals^[86]

Retribution

Release date: December 4, 2012

Retribution brought a revamped bounty system, a new "crimewatch" system, added 4 new destroyer ships and a new mining frigate, rebalanced the frigate, cruiser and destroyer ship roles and improved enemy AI.

A list of the additions and modifications from the Retribution feature page:^[87]

• A revamp of the bounty system, which deals out payment on financial loss^[88]
• A revamp of the criminal warning system, dubbed "crimewatch" ^[89]
• A rebalance of ships in the frigate, cruiser and destroyer classes ^[90]
• Addition of four new destroyers for each of the races with different attributes ^[91]
• Addition of a new ORE mining frigate ^[92]
• Improvements to the combat UI ^[93]
• Improvements to NPC AI ^[94]
• Addition of a new music audio system which works on location rather than a linear playlist. Removal of the jukebox ^[95]
• Other minor features such as new items, the addition of a new safety system, a new salvage drone, and various performance improvements ^[96]

Odyssey

Release date: June 4, 2013

Odyssey revamped the exploration mechanics, added a new radial navigation tool for the UI, added new Navy Battlecruisers, rebalanced all Navy-issue class ships, moved ice belts into scannable anomalies, tweaked nullsec manufacturing stations, added a security tag trade in system where players can exchange security tags for security status, added a dual character training mechanic, added a jump-gate animation, along various visual and performance related improvements.

A list of the additions and modifications from the Odyssey feature page:^[97]

• A revamp of the scanning system, adding a sensor overlay to display anomalies before being scanned down, a new set probe formation system, new modules for scanning, and new items to be found when scanning^[98]
• A revamp of the hacking mechanic, including a minigame when hacking containers^[99]
• A new "Radial Navigation Tool", for extra convenience when interacting with objects in space^[100]
• Addition of Navy Battlecruisers^[101]
• Rebalancing of all previous Navy-issue ships^[102]
• Changes to mining, including moving ice belts to scannable anomalies, a change in the mineral composition in ore, and a reseeding in moon minerals and changes to their use in tech 2 production^[103]
• Changes to nullsec outposts, including increasing manufacturing capacity^[104]
• Addition of a security tag system, where players can trade in security tags obtained from pirate factions to gain security status^[105]
• Changes to player owned starbases, including private hangars, the ability to access any starbase arrays from within the shield, and major UI improvements^[106]
• Improvements to the music audio system, extending Retribution's changes to nullsec and wormholes^[107]
• Addition of a new jumpgate animation used when jumping, a new ship and pod loss animation, and new station hangar visuals^[108]
• Addition of a dual character training system, in which a player can exchange a PLEX to activate a 30-day time period in which two characters on the same account can train skills

Rubicon

Release date: November 19, 2013

Rubicon brought major updates and changes to core game elements, the certificates system was overhauled along with the player login screen. New features included the addition of player owned high-sec customs offices, ghost sites, new hacking mechanics, Twitch streaming. The update is also the first steps towards colonisation, as stated in CCP Seagull's vision.^[109]

A list of the additions and modifications from the Rubicon feature page:^[110]

• Ghost sites - Rubicon introduces Ghost Sites, rare finds, providing fast-paced hacking and combat challenges, with unique new rewards found nowhere else in EVE
• Mobile structures - Reducing reliance on Empire facilities, the pilots of EVE have begun manufacturing accessible, mobile structures to support their operations
• Sisters of EVE faction ships - Branching out to aid capsuleers, the Sisters of EVE have developed a new frigate, cruiser and battleship to support extended travel in hostile areas
• Rebalancing and Roles - Rubicon rebalancing tackles the Marauders, Interceptors, Interdictors and Electronic Warfare ships to bring everything up to speed in combat
• Guerrilla-style warfare - Deployable structures that disrupt large scale operations
• Improved UI features
• Expanded corporation sizes
• Ship model updates for the Tristan and Crucifier
• Redesigned station exteriors
• Rapid missile launchers
• Encounter surveillance system for pirate bounty payouts
• High-sec customs offices
• Certificate system overhaul
• ISIS (InterBus Ship Identification System) ship progression guide

Kronos

Release date: June 3, 2014

At Fanfest 2014, CCP Seagull stated that the expansion will overhaul the industrial backbone of EVE. However, in a developer blog released shortly after Fanfest, CCP Falcon announced that the industry changes would be pushed back to the next release, Crius (see below), which would be moved forward to July 22, 2014 from its original planned release date of August 19.^[111] CCP released all other planned, non-industrial updates with Kronos, including:

• The addition of three new ships for the newly-playable Mordu's Legion pirates (one frigate, one cruiser, and one battleship)
• A rebalance of all other pirate faction ships and Tech II sub-capital industrials (Blockade Runners, Deep Space Transports, Mining Barges, and Exhumers)
• The addition of a new Tech II "Expedition Frigate" called the Prospect, with significant HP and Cargo Hold increases over the Venture mining frigate introduced in Retribution, as well as being able to fit a specialized cloaking device.
• The addition of low slots to Freighters and Jump Freighters (previously the only ships in the game without any options for customization)
• Expanded audio customization and UI improvements
• Replacement of the Noble Exchange (abbr. NeX) from Incarna with the New Eden Store, with Aurum becoming available per-account rather than per-character
• Increased gradation of Pirate Implant Sets
• New modules, including a new module type affecting a ship's warp speed
• A rebalance of all Tech I and Tech II drones to encourage use of Caldari and Amarr drones
• Minor changes to Faction Warfare
• Removal of the loot scattering mechanic of exploration sites introduced in Odyssey
• Rebalancing of the Phoenix dreadnaught and Citadel missiles.^[112]
• Redesigned ship models for the Moa, Condor and Typhoon along with all their variants

Crius

Release date: July 22, 2014

The Crius expansion focused primarily on the industrial side of EVE, with some fixes and tweaks to other aspects of the game.^[113]

• Corporation faction standings requirement was removed for placing player owned stations (POS) in hi-sec systems.
• All minerals, ice products received from "reprocessing" ores and ices were increased by 38.1% to compensate for the other "reprocessing" changes
• A complete overhaul of the Industry user interface
• A new beacon in the Metropolis region
• Icons are now found in all market groups in the Market
• Tech I materials removed from Tech II blueprints
• Changes to research costs and time
• Introduction of "Teams"
• There is no longer a cap on the amount of free installations for production
• Addition of Compression Arrays to Starbases to allow for storage of ore and ice.
• Instant job cost calculation
• Atmospheric audio for stations

Hyperion

Release date: August 26, 2014

The Hyperion focused primarily on wormholes as well as their game mechanics.

• Re-balancing of effects in wormhole systems
• More connections to wormholes
• Class four wormholes now have two static connections
• Bookmark sharing is now faster
• Overview sharing
• New level four frigate missions

Oceanus

Release date: September 30, 2014

• New cloaking effect
• New wormhole nebulas
• Wormhole effects indicating what ships can go through
• New Burner Missions, now with logistic
• Named Module updates
• Interceptors and Interdictors get balance updates
• Tooltips for market groups and categories
• New music for Oceanus
• Previews in the New Eden Store
• Update to how visual ship data is stored and managed, in preparation for being able to deliver visual customization of ships in the future
• CIDER upgrade for the EVE Mac client
• New notification system (Opt-in) ^[114]

Phoebe

Release date: November 4, 2014 Phoebe was mostly a graphical and audio update, with the only major features being the unlimited skill queue and the changes to travel for capital and super-capital ships. The former made training skills much more versatile, while the latter formed the "Phase One" of CCP's gradual reworking of how sovereign nullsec space operated. The new "jump fatigue" mechanic forced players to wait between using the jump-drives on the larger ships in the game. These ships had previously been capable of covering very large distances in minutes, allowing a large group of allied capitals to quickly escalate skirmishes, a technique known as "hotdropping." The new waiting periods between jumps made this tactic much less viable while at the same time making capital ships more vulnerable while traveling long distances.

• Long distance travel changes
• Unlimited skill queue
• Multiple Market Sell Order Creation
• Bookmarks in space and more in the Sensor Overlay
• New Invention
• New and rebalanced exploration rewards
• New Notifications
• Mission Objectives Guidance
• New cloaking effect versions for Covert and Prototype cloaks
• Different icons for armor and hull reps and cynos and covert cynos
• Scanner window separation
• Better ways into Expeditions
• EVE XML API updates
• Brighter Nebulas
• New sounds for structures
• Trial account upgrade improvements^[115]

Rhea

Release date: December 9, 2014^[116] The Rhea update completely overhauled death in EVE Online, with no skill points lost upon death. Also new to the Rhea update were 101 new 'shattered' wormhole systems, including the named system Thera-one of the largest in the game. As well as these two new features, Rhea introduced the Tech 3 Amarr Tactical Destroyer, the 'Confessor', and the 'Bowhead' ORE freighter.

• New named wormhole system called "Thera", one hundred other new wormhole systems^[117]
• No "skillpoint" loss on "pod death," removal of "clone grades"
• Amarr Race Tech 3 Destroyer
• New model for the Blackbird
• "Bowhead" Freighter for hauling constructed ships ^[118]
• Opt-in beta for the New Star Map (In-game map of the universe)
• Physically Based Rendering techniques (PBR)
• New UI Look
• Opt-In Keyboard Ship Control
• Redesign of some ship models

Proteus

Release date: 13 January 2015^[119]

• Rebalanced recon ships, most notable change being directional scan immunity for Combat Recons^[120]
• Redesigned Exequror^[121]
• High-end exploration sites
• New effects for asteroid belts^[122]
• Module rebalancing round two
• Beta starmap receives more features
• New player mining locations

Tiamat

Release date: 17 February 2015^[123]

The Tiamat update added many small fixes, but its most notable new features were the hostile Jovian NPCs (non-player characters) known as Drifters, and the new Minmatar Tactical Destroyer known as the Svipul.

• New Minmatar Tactical Destroyer, the Svipul^[124]
• Corporation friendly fire toggle^[125]
• New NPC faction, the Drifters, can be found roaming through space^[126]
• New player dungeons in every starting system
• Audio engine upgrade
• Typo and text issue fixes

Scylla

Release date: 24 March 2015^[127]

The Scylla update brought a major change to the EVE launcher that cut hours off of the download time. The new "download-on-demand" launcher only downloaded EVE's most basic files and downloaded the rest while in-game.

• Added download-on-demand launcher^[128]
• Changes to Strategic Cruiser subsystems
• Conversation ISK charge has been reduced to 0 for new players
• Changes to "fighter" drones
• 'Opportunities' new player tutorial has been edited-new opportunities added and existing ones updated^[129]
• Optimal range of "Bouncer" sentry drones reduced
• Changes to Ishtar Heavy Assault Cruiser (HAC)^[130]
• New Victorieux Luxury Yacht ship awarded to winners of the Worlds Collide tournament
• Fixes to the new Beta Map^[131]

Mosaic

Release date: 28 April 2015^[132]

The Mosaic update introduced re-balancing to existing T3 destroyers, mineral composition of ores, volume reduction of structures and SKINs.

• Added SKINs, superseding the Ship Paint Pilot Program. SKINs can be bought from the New Eden Store with Aurum tokens or dropped by certain NPCs^[133]
• Confessor and Svipul Tactical Destroyers have been rebalanced and their build components have been adjusted^[134]
• Compositions of several ore variations have been adjusted and the consumption of Zydrine and Megacyte has been doubled for almost all blueprints^[135]
• The old tutorials have been completely removed and replaced with the Opportunities system^[136]
• The Entosis Link has been introduced
• The New Map has been made the default map
• Cynosural fields can no longer be lit within range of a POS, regardless of the presence of a forcefield or the state of the tower
• Corporation adverts can now specify minimum skill points
• New POS Force Field Effect

A full list of patch notes can be found here.

Carnyx

Release date: 2 June 2015^[137]

Carnyx introduced the first parts of the new sovereignty capture gameplay, new graphic shaders, revamped icons in space and the overview, the new Caldari Tech-3 "Jackdaw" destroyer and rebalanced modules.^[138]

Aegis

Release date: 7 July 2015^[139]

Aegis introduced the "Hecate" class Gallente tactical destroyer, missile guidance modules, balance changes to Battleships and the Ishtar and improvements to graphics SKINs for Tech II ships.^[140] On 14 July 2015 the "Aegis Sovereignty" feature for nullsec space capture was activated.^[141]

Galatea

Release date: 25 August 2015^[142]

Galatea introduced an iteration on sovereignty capture mechanics, the "Raata Sunset" SKIN for Caldari ships, user interface improvements and a new Dominix model.^[143]

Vanguard

Release date: 29 September 2015^[144]

Vanguard introduced updated shaders for all stations and outposts, multi-buy, "Blue Tiger" SKINs, a new Guristas burner mission, changes to Entosis Links and the "Crimson Harvest" Halloween in game event.^[145]

Parallax

Release date: 3 November 2015^[146]

Parallax introduced node regeneration changes to the Aegis Sovereignty system, Jump Fatigue reduction to a maximum cap of five days, the "brain in a box" backend code changes, new "Raata Sunset" SKINs and the new probe scanning interface.^[147]

December 2015 Release

Release date: 8 December 2015^[148]

The December 2015 Release introduced thirteen new ships (the Endurance Expedition Frigate, four Command Destroyers, four Logistics Frigates and four Navy Electronic Warfare Frigates), the Micro Jump Field Generator module, new damage effects, new falloff range mechanics for remote repair modules, energy neutralizers and energy vampires, an increase in grid size from 250 km to 8000 km, module rebalancing, PVP killmarks on ship hulls and "Operation Frostline", the winter holiday in game event.^[149]

January 2016 Release

Release date: 12 January 2016^[150]

The January 2016 Release introduced an Electronic Warfare effects bar, the new "Tronhadar Ink" SKIN line starting with Minmatar hulls, improvements to the new star map and to the opt-in camera controls and new CREST options for third party tools.^[151]

February 2016 Release

Release date: 9 February 2016^[152]

The February 2016 Release introduced Skill Trading, allowing players to transfer skillpoints between characters, and a new default camera view with features such as first person view, marquee select and improved zoom options.^[153]

March 2016 Release

Release date: 9 March 2016^[154]

The March 2016 Release introduced module revamps (including tweaks to ECM, ECCM and damage control), new modules (such as the Heavy Stasis Grappler), new Drifter based game play including new Booster pills, Project Discovery allowing players to support real life science in EVE Online, community notifications in-game, "The Hunt", the guristas-themed spring in game event and preparations for the upcoming EVE: Citadel expansion.^[155]

Citadel

Release date: 27 April 2016^[156]

Citadel introduced new player owned stations named citadels, Force Auxiliaries (a new line of logistics themed capital ships), a rebalance of existing capital ships, new super-weapons for citadels and Titans, a unique citadel named the 'Palatine Keepstar', of which only one may exist in the game at any given time, and 'Recurring Opportunities' (a daily quest for bonus skill points feature, which have since been removed.).^[157]

Citadel was the first major expansion to Eve Online since CCP made changes to their release cadence.^[158]

Planned future releases

On May 6, 2014 at their yearly Fanfest convention, CCP announced the move from the current development cycle of two expansions per year, to ten expansions per year on a rapid release cycle of six weeks per expansion.^[159] In September 2015, CCP announced that while the five week release cycle would be maintained for content such as quality of life changes, ship balance changes, visual upgrades, new ship skins and storyline developments, they would also be bringing back expansions:

An expansion will be a set of big, connected features that both make impactful change on EVE, and make a statement about what kind of game EVE is. Second, there won't be a fixed number of them per year, but rather we will announce when we have one in the making and what the main features are.^[158]

References