You don’t really know EVE Online until you’re crammed into a hot tub full of drunk, naked Finnish players and two developers chatting excitedly about chaos and wormholes. I’ve traveled thousands of miles to end up here, in a stranger’s house on an island called Kemiönsaari, the boondocks of Finland. My journey to this county of some 6,000 Swedes and Finns isn’t just for pleasure, however. I’m here to cover a historic event in PC gaming—EVE Online’s first-ever Fanfest to be held inside of one lucky player’s house.
Normally these events are held in developer CCP Games’ home of Reykjavík, Iceland, and thousands of players from all over the world fly to party with the developers and learn about what’s next for EVE Online. Last year, though, CCP Games decided to take the show on the road and also solicit invitations from players to host a Fanfest from their very own home.
Fanfest Kemiönsaari (or Fanfest Home) is a surreal combination of a traditional gaming convention and a house party—keynote speeches and Q&A sessions spliced with barbecue burgers and vodka shots. When I told my parents about this trip, they were convinced it was an elaborate murder plot that would end with me flayed in a torture den somewhere. They did not predict the pale parade of nude, drunk EVE players shuffling to and from the sauna and hot tub. It’s a fitting opening ceremony for this next chapter of EVE Online, one that its developers promise will bring mayhem to its hundreds of thousands of players and their precious empires.
This story is from the Holiday Special 2019 edition of PC Gamer US Edition.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Holiday Special 2019 edition of PC Gamer US Edition.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
TERMINATOR: RESISTANCE
Revisiting Teyon’s game after Robocop: Rogue City.
RICH'N BEEFY
LIKE A DRAGON: INFINITE WEALTH is a dizzyingly huge all-you-can-eat Yakuza buffet
ROUND 8 FIGHT!
TEKKEN 8 is a blend of nostalgia for fans and a pair of welcoming arms for newbies
HOLY HELL
THE INQUISITOR is a grim yet strangely gripping dark fantasy adventure
SHOT DEAD
There are flashes of greatness in SUICIDE SQUAD: KILL THE JUSTICE LEAGUE
THE BEST NON-TRADITIONAL WAR GAMES
Is it possible for wargamers to give peace a chance?
WHEELIE GOOD
Freewheeling with Northern Irish indie studio Billy Goat Entertainment and its next project, PARCEL CORPS
PALWORLD
Shockingly, animal cruelty doesn't make for a fulfilling experience
DIVINE FREQUENCY
This horror-RPG-FPS built in the Doom engine is terrifying
AVOWED
Obsidian's next RPG goes all in on first-person action