REYKJAVIK, ICELAND — Fenris Creations, the newly rebranded developer formerly known as CCP Games, unveiled its “Cradle of War” expansion for EVE Online this week with a bold promise: a brand-new, non-PVP starter space where new players could learn the game in complete safety.
“We want new pilots to feel at home before the galaxy burns,” said Fenris Creations CEO Hilmar Pjetursson during the FanFest 2026 keynote, gesturing to a slide labeled “Step 1: Comfort.” “They will dock in beautiful stations, mine asteroids in peace, and gain a genuine appreciation for the game we all love.”
Industry analysts noted the announcement was somewhat undercut by the subsequent slide titled “Step 2: Death.”
The full Cradle of War roadmap reveals that new players will spend approximately 72 hours in the protected starter zone before being automatically enrolled in an “Empire-Driven Military Campaign” that developer notes describe as “a galaxy-wide omniconflict designed to familiarize newer pilots with the concept of getting absolutely obliterated by someone who has been playing for 14 years.”
“The onboarding flow is incredibly intuitive,” explained a Fenris Creations spokesperson. “First, we give them a safe space. Then, we introduce them to the broader New Eden experience, which is mostly being shot at by Goonswarm while they are still in their rookie ship.” The spokesperson paused before adding, “We have actually optimized the new player experience by making the safe space slightly less safe than before, so there is less of a jarring transition.”
Veteran EVE Online players largely praised the approach. “Finally, CCP — sorry, Fenris — is acknowledging that the game is already pure war,” said Marcus “The Mittani” Blight, CEO of the Goonswarm Federation, in a post on social media that was immediately screenshotted and posted to r/EVE with the caption “same as it ever was.” “The Cradle of War is not an expansion. It is a description of the game. It has always been this.”
Other features of the June 9 expansion include eight new capital ships, a revised loyalty point system, and a “Pochven Refit Bundle” that will cost approximately 4,500 Plex and is being marketed as “for the Triglavian-adjacent lifestyle.”
New players who survive their first galaxy-wide omniconflict will reportedly be rewarded with a unique “Cradle Survivor” skin for their pod, which existing players noted is the first step toward eventually being encouraged to purchase a “Cradle Corpse” skin for their capsule.
Fenris Creations stated the expansion would be live by June 9 and that all new accounts created in the past 72 hours had already been flagged for “priority war enrollment.”
r/EVE Reactions:
- [/r/EVE] “Non-PVP starter space LMAO they are literally describing highsec with extra steps” — Posted by u/PochvenPilot_42 | 2,847 upvotes | 312 comments
- [/r/EVE] “I have been playing for 11 years and I still feel like a new player. This is actually realistic.” — Posted by u/Deltoid_Calculator | 1,203 upvotes | 89 comments
- [/r/EVE] “The ‘galaxy-wide omniconflict’ is just Tuesday in EVE but now they are charging $29.99 for it” — Posted by u/HS_For Life | 976 upvotes | 201 comments
- [/r/EVE] “Cradle of War. Get it? Because EVE has been war the whole time. Brilliant marketing.” — Posted by u/Triklestick_Trig | 734 upvotes | 67 comments
- [/r/EVE] “I cannot wait to welcome all these new players to Pochven. They will love it here. We will love them. They will die.” — Posted by u/Clade_Veteran | 612 upvotes | 44 comments
