The 13th free expansion for the epic space MMO EVE Online was released today. Tyrannis will introduce a number of new features into the EVE universe including: the EVE Gate, a social hub that allows players to access EVE from any net-enabled location; new planetary interaction capabilities, where players can scan planets and build structures for mining; numerous graphical updated and the addition of historical event landmarks.

With the release of Tyrannis CCP games is also opening up a larger portion of EVE's API, allowing players more options for developing EVE-related programs.

Torfi Frans Ólafsson, Senior Producer of EVE, had this to say on the new level of community access:

“Having watched EVE grow for seven years, we’ve found it make the game an order of magnitude more interesting when we give more power to the players. You don’t have to be Sarah Connor to prefer empowering humans over well programmed machines. In Tyrannis we deepen the experience by handing over control of commodity production on planet surfaces and providing tools for collaboration in EVE Gate.”

Due to our excitement surrounding the latest patch, and a long due promise to try the game out, a group of Game Rant writers will be starting to play soon. We're all new to the experience, so if you're an EVE faithful could you offer us a few tips? Or even leave your call-sign in the comments and we'll drop you a line in-game.

Excited for the release of Tyrannis, Ranters? Or are you too busy rushing around, preparing for the June 8th seeding of planetary command centers?

EVE Online: Tyrannis is now available for download on PC, free for all current EVE Online subscribers. Read up on everything included in Tyrannis, and check out the expansion's trailer at EVE's homepage.