CCP Games and Vivox announced a technology integration agreement that will introduce real-time, in-game voice communication to the massively multiplayer online game (MMOG)
EVE Online for the PC. Vivox will provide CCP with game-embedded voice communication services customized for and integrated into
EVE.
EVE players will be able to speak with each other in-game, create audio conference channels for their gang, corporation or alliance, and start, leave or rejoin voice conversations during the game without impacting game performance. On-screen indicators will show the player which channels are monitoring audio communications and which player within a channel is speaking. Players will also have moderator privileges to kick, mute, ban and un-ban other players, all synchronized with the rights of existing
EVE moderator and user roles.
“Players of
EVE are attracted by its unique role playing and space simulation features,” said Hilmar V. Petursson, CEO of CCP. “But when players unite to form corporations and alliances, the game’s dynamic, immersive experience really comes alive. Now users will be able to talk, strategize, plot and negotiate naturally with each other. To deliver this functionality to our subscribers, we wanted a partner with expertise in delivering voice communications with a simple, scalable and high quality solution so that we could focus on our core expertise of building game content.”
This new feature will be a premium service option for game subscribers and, because of its tight integration into the game, ease of use, and scalability, presents an improvement over burdening gamers with having to maintain their own voice servers with third party applications, as some
EVE player corporations and alliances currently do.
