CCP Games has officially unveiledEVE Online: Legion, the next major expansion for its long-running and iconic spacefaring MMO, and it’s coming soon with a June 04, 2025 release date.Legionsets the stage for a massive evolution in how players engage with EVE’s infamous player-run corporations and the ever-shifting power dynamics of its sprawling universe.
The key featureLegionadds toEVE Online, theFreelance Jobssystem pictured below, a game-changing feature the devs emphasize to us is super exciting, that gives capsuleers the ability to take on contracts from player corporations without formally joining them. This system allows new players to jump straight into the action and contribute meaningfully to the economy and wars of New Eden, whether through logistics, industrial tasks, or frontline combat.
“Freelance Jobs give anyone, regardless of experience, the power to fleet up, earn rewards, and shape the future of New Eden,“said Creative Director Bergur Finnbogason (CCP Burger). It’s a bold step in reducing the learning curve while still honoring the player-driven complexity that’s defined EVE for over 20 years.
“This is a massive, massive feature,“Bergur tells us during a pre-brief at CCP Games headquarters in Reykjavík, Iceland. It allows players to pick up jobs from any corporation and crucially, it’s gateway for newer players to be recruited into a corp and make new friends.
“The map plays a key role in telling the story of the universe”
Another exciting feature coming with Legion is an all-new and long overdue map overhaul. When it comes to the official in-gameEVE Onlinemaps, “none of them really do the job properly,” admits CCP Burger when explaining why players must resort to using external third-party tools. “This is something we really want to fix,” he adds. The first step is adding features to it to better visualize the player’s own “local story” and there’s a 2D layout of the map coming which fans will love.
Other features coming toEVE Onlinewhen Legion launches on May 27th include significant Corporation Identity improvements where corp brand managers can set a colorway for their corporation with full Hex color codes and RGB support, and players can automatically adopt colors of corp palette, so your ships all look the same.
“We’re saying goodbye to the pre-selected 18 colors and giving everyone a full fledged color picker with full RGB and hex code support.”
Across the board though, the visuals ofEVE Onlineare being improved. CCP Games' Trinity rendering engine recently received an overhaul, offering higher frame rates and improved visual fidelity, and this was to lay the foundation for what’s to come. And that includes a"complete renovation of our fog system"the team tells us.
“This enables stunning new lighting effects, truly enhancing the sense of depth and mystery of space, while also adding Ray Traced Shadows to weave with the results looking amazing. They deliver the most realistic shadow rendering we’ve ever seen. They support more light sources, eliminate artifacts and pave the way for even more advanced ray tracing features in the future, and to ensure the best possible performance, we’ll be introducing upscaling this year with support for all major graphics cards. You’ll be able to boost your graphics card performance with just a few clicks.”
EVE Online Is Planning For The Next Decade of Breathtaking Visuals That Their Artists Will Bring To Life
A graphic update coming toEVE Online’sCarbon engine later this year will add"realistic lighting, a wider dynamic range, richer colors, and finer details across all lighting conditions.“CCP Goggi, Art Director at CCP Games, elaborates:
“All cruisers are getting a lighting and VFX upgrade, and we are also introducing dramatic new damage visualization on all ships with the addition of particle fire and smoke effects when a ship reaches hull damage, bringing a whole new level to the intensity of combat. In the Legion expansion, we’ve also redesigned five Tech 1 cruisers and all their variants, 13 new ships in total. These hulls now have a sleek, modern design, higher model and texture quality.”
EVE Online Adds Two New Ships With the Legion Expansion
Meet the Babaroga maurader and Sarathiel dreadnaught
In addition to fresh gameplay systems,Legionintroduces two powerhouse warships designed to shake up battlefield strategy:
With increased tools for corporation leaders, expanded nullsec sovereignty mechanics, and a new Corporation Palette for unified visual identity,Legionleans heavily into themes of loyalty, legacy, and leadership. According to Game Director Snorri Árnason, the expansion empowers players to"assume your role as a leader and take command in EVE,“as the influx of new blood opens the door to fresh alliances and shifting empires.
EVE Vanguard Gets Early Access Release Date
The EVE first-person shooter is playable again this year and launches in early access in 2026.
Also teased wasNemesis, a limited-time event serving as the last chance for players to experience planet-side combat inEVE Vanguardbefore the standalone MMOFPS enters Steam Early Access in summer 2026. The public event begins September 16, with more details promised soon. We’ll have more to share on this onScreenRantin the coming weeks.
With sweeping ship balance updates, an overhauled map interface, and accelerated progression for Omega clone pilots,EVE Online: Legionmarks a potentially pivotal moment for the game—one that could unite hardened veterans and curious newcomers in the galaxy’s next great war.
