Eve partners online with Microsoft Excel, because of course

During this weekend’s keynote Eve Fanvest Conference in Reykjavik, Iceland, eve online Creative director Bergur Finnbogason previewed an upcoming collaboration between space-savvy MMO and Microsoft Excel spreadsheet program to a crowd of loyal fans. They ate it.

eve online Puritans joke often That the complex game is basically “spreads in space” due to the massive amounts of data one has to contend with to play it seriously. sowHen Finnbogason took the stage in Eve Fanfest this morning and clicking on a slide showing CCP Games’ partnership for developers with Microsoft Excel, and Twitch official stream He captured reasonable chuckles from the audience.

But that laughter soon turned to applause when he showed them exactly what the store had in store for them.

Contrasting with the goals laid out in other parts of the keyword, Finnbogason explained that his team is interested in bridging the knowledge and budget gaps between new players and those who have played. eve online Long enough to establish companies And Alliances inside it wide universe.

“Data is very important for many advanced gameplay styles in EveAnd, by simplifying access to data for everyone, we will level the playing field when it comes to sandbox tools,” Finnbogason said. “With Microsoft, we are building an extension that will allow players to secure data and pull it directly into Excel.”

“It’s not an April Fool’s Day,” Finnbogason added as a pilot was played behind, just to make sure the audience realized this wasn’t an elaborate joke. “this is real.”

The implications of this collaboration in Excel are huge. While the built-in gadget won’t suddenly become a day old eve online For players as experienced or knowledgeable as the more specialized astronauts, being on a par when it comes to collecting, managing, and comparing data should go a long way toward making sure that newcomers don’t run out when the game’s economic realities start to pile up.

eve onlineThe Excel extension for Excel is still in an early stage of development, but CCP Games plans to share more later this year.