EVE Online dev halts production on Project Nova

Correction: This article was amended on 03/12/19 to reflect that development on Project Nova has been paused, rather than outright canceled. We apologize for any confusion.

Updated story: Production on Project Nova has been halted, according to EVE Online developer CCP Games.

Originally developed in collaboration with Sumo Digital, the spiritual successor to PlayStation 3 free-to-play game Dust 514 has been mothballed so CCP can "return to the drawing board."

This news means the game (in its current form, at least) faces an uncertain future, and comes just a month after CCP Games shared a new teaser trailer, gameplay footage, and announced registration for an invite-only alpha to be held in November.

That alpha was initially scheduled to land in November, but CCP has now decided to postpone the test "until further notice" 

"Over the course of Project Nova's development we conducted a number of player research sessions with external partners, tirelessly playtested the game internally and brought community stalwarts in to help us evaluate the project," explains a blog post.

As a result of that feedback, CCP found "the gameplay experience in its current form does not live up to our original vision and would not achieve our ambitious goals for this project," and has paused development as a result. 

Moving forward, the studio plans to "take a step back" and spend some more time "figuring out how all this hard work can translate into something better and more meaningful for the EVE universe." 

CCP Games' entire statement can be read here.