CCP’s sci-fi console shooter DUST 514, exclusive to the PlayStation 3 console has been in closed beta for a long time now. “Closed beta” is a fitting phrase since it has literally been locked away from everything, including the entire universe it exists in, except those invited or those you put money down early for extra gear along with their early access. But no longer.
CCP has announced that DUST 514 will be officially merging onto the EVE Online servers starting January 10. What does this mean for DUST or EVE players? Well, for starters, all that orbital bombardment you’ve heard so much about is ready to get started. Corporations will now be able to merge DUST players and EVE players onto the same chat channels too. More importantly, EVE players will be one step closer to making a fortune off of creating and selling items that console players in DUST rely on to win fights. CCP did state that while this is definitely happening on January 10, DUST 514 is still in closed beta and this is just one more step in that process to ensure a smooth delivery when it’s ready.
There’s been a lot of speculation and criticism on whether CCP’s admittedly bold move launching a game on consoles that interacts heavily with that of the PC, on the same servers, was a good idea. While no one can say what type of success or disaster it might be yet, we can say that we’re one step closer to finding out.