Few things get fandoms more excited than a good crossover between popular franchises. There were plenty of strong video game collaborations and crossovers in 2021, from Pirates of the Caribbean's Jack Sparrow appearing in Rare's Sea of Thieves to the Normandy from BioWare's Mass Effect appearing in Hello Games' No Man's Sky. That pattern will no doubt continue well into 2022, though this year is starting off with a somewhat bizarre crossover between CCP Games' MMORPG EVE Online and the long-running BBC series Doctor Who.
EVE Online turned 18 years old in 2021, and during that time it has become a haven for fans looking to immerse themselves in a hard sci-fi universe with a thriving economy, various ecosystems, and lore. Though the developer adds new content for people to mess around with, there's also a contingent of the fanbase that makes its own fun through months-long wars or taking part in EVE Online's Project Discovery; currently benefitting COVID-19 research. Yet the upcoming Doctor Who collaboration is EVE's "first major cross IP collaboration," signaling CCP Games may aim to do even more with its title going forward.
What EVE Online's Doctor Who Event Entails
Based on information released thus far, "The Interstellar Convergence" event in EVE Online should be relatively simple. Players, also called Capsuleers, will be able to search a new section of space based on the Time Lords' homeworld Gallifrey starting January 13, according to a press release from CCP Games. Between then and February 1, artifacts can be discovered that will help Capsuleers track down Daleks, which drop "unique rewards" to be used in the game's main setting of New Eden. Login rewards including skill points and Doctor Who-themed items will also be available "throughout the duration of the event."
More Spacefaring Franchises Could Come to EVE Online
Sticking with the theme of legacy sci-fi franchises, another that could mesh well with EVE Online is Star Trek. The first season of Star Trek's original series began airing in 1966, about three years after Doctor Who debuted on BBC One. Both franchises have self-contained lore that has blossomed over the last 60 years as new showrunners take over, and Star Trek has just as much a propensity to use deep-space anomolies and other plot devices to explore the far reaches of the universe and time itself.
A corner of New Eden could become host to explorers from the United Federation of Planets, similar to how Gallifrey will appear alongside Doctor Who content. Shows like Star Trek Voyager and Deep Space Nine use wormholes as a way of letting characters explore other quadrants of the Milky Way, not to mention cross into parallel universes, and the same excuses could allow Starfleet to begin building a base camp in New Eden. Games like Star Trek: Resurgence continue to keep the brand active, and there's potential for a two-sided crossover between EVE Online and Star Trek Online.
Meanwhile, Star Wars could just as easily cross into the EVE Online universe, as the galaxy far, far away is full of ships that can travel faster than light and would readily join Capsuleers in one of the franchise's many eponymous wars. The brand has expanded plenty since Lucasfilm was acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2012, augmenting standalone Star Wars games like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order with crossovers ranging from Fortnite to The Sims 4. EVE Online could fit right in.
Dozens of other popular interstellar sci-fi properties could follow, including the aforementioned Mass Effect, Alien, Dune, or The Expanse - which is receiving a video game adaptation by Telltale as of this writing. Some may quibble about how all of these major brands invading New Eden would affect the game's lore, but ultimately crossover events are just fun ways to give fans more content; based on something many players likely enjoy already. With Doctor Who being the first of these crossovers, hopefully more exciting opportunities follow.
EVE Online is available now for PC.